Extraordinary Baseball Card pulled in Augusta
For the Love of the Game by Ashley ‘A.B.’ Brown
November 30 started off like any other Saturday for Augusta native Phillip Kearns. Kearns, an avid baseball card collector, stopped by Top Dog Comics in the National Hills Shopping Center to buy a box or two of cards. “Busting” boxes of sports cards is something many card collectors love to do. They dream of pulling the hottest and most valuable cards on the market. Usually, they come away without a big hit, but there’s always the chance of pulling a card worth hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Kearns has been a collector for a long time, and over the years had pulled some nice cards, but nothing like the rare Lou Gehrig he found that Saturday Morning.
Kearns decided to purchase a 2024 Bowman Chrome baseball card box, which retails for $249. The box contained 24 unopened packs. Each pack featured four cards from current Major League players and prospects. This year, however, the company also randomly included some rare, numbered cards featuring some of the game’s all-time greats – including Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig. One of the Gehrig cards was a rare one-of-a-kind “Superfractor.” The card was so sought after that Dave & Adam’s Card World, one of the country’s largest sellers of sports cards and collectibles, offered a massive $100,000 bounty to anyone that pulled the elusive card. Phillip Kearns was that lucky soul. He basically pulled Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket, but instead of a trip to a Chocolate Factory, his Golden Ticket comes with a six-figure payday.
I spoke to Kearns and Top Dog Comics owner Chris Galloway about the amazing card and how it all went down. Kearns, like many collectors, chose to open the box in store. He was casually going through packs when he hit a really nice Shohei Ohtani card. He was thrilled, but as he continued to peel back cards, he could see the unmistakable glow of a gold Superfractor. Any Superfractor is extraordinarily rare. Galloway said Kearns’s was the first ever pulled in his store. As Kearns slowly revealed the entire card, he realized it was legendary New York Yankee star Lou Gehrig. Kearns was thrilled. While Kearns continued to open packs Galloway the card and learned about the bounty, sharing the news with Kearns.
“I was blown away,” said Galloway.
Kearns was elated and immediately shared the news with friends – me included. I was stunned as well. You could open thousands of boxes and never pull a card like the Gehrig. Kearns is fully aware of his good fortune.
“At first, we thought it was a $5,000-$10,000 card and I was just sitting there in awe,” he said. “But then, Chris did a little investigating and let me know there was a $100,000 bounty on the card. Then, I just sat there for 30-40 minutes and didn’t say much.”
Speaking with Galloway regarding the amazing pull, we both agreed that it could not have happened to a better person. Kearns has been in contact with DA Card World, and they are working out the details on a potential deal.
Now, I just have to figure out how to get some of his luck to rub off on me.
