Stolen baseball cards recovered but true value can't be measured for some

Cy Young card, 1911

When police recovered stolen, rare baseball cards last month in Wareham, Massachusetts, the owner wasn’t thinking of the $11,000 appraised value. He was thinking of his family’s history with the cards, police said.

“The cards were passed down from generation to generation,” Wareham officer William E. Filhman said. “They were family heirlooms, so to speak, and he was very relieved to get them back.”

Vintage baseball cards can cost big bucks on the market: a mint 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle can bring up to $10,000. A 1948 Leaf Babe Ruth can cost more than $6,000. But most baseball cards – the older and most valuable ones – are handed down through families where the true value is a history that can’t be measured in dollars.

“It is memories,” said Ron McCall, owner of the Bleachers, a sports card shop in Abington. “It is not really the items. It is the connection to your parents or grandparents.”

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