# Money Grubbing Shitheads Slice and Dice a Piece of History **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582 "2003-10-20T21:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/1 "2003-10-20T21:12:45Z")
Some excerpts from an [ESPN](http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/news/2003/1020/1642358.html?partnersite=espn) article: > [@](#): > > A Babe Ruth game-worn New York Yankees home jersey from 1925 was cut on Monday by a card company that will insert swatches of the jersey into packs. > > The company, Donruss, purchased the jersey – **believed to be one of three Ruth pinstripe jerseys in existence** – at an auction last summer for $264,210. > > One ceremonial 1-by-1 inch cut of the jersey was made by Donruss president and COO Bill Dully, with Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, assisting at the ESPN Zone in New York City. The jersey will immediately go back to the company’s headquarters in Arlington, Texas, to be sliced and diced into 2,100 pieces. > > “When I first heard about it, I had reservations,” said the 86-year-old Stevens, who noted that she was comforted by the fact that full jerseys are on display both at the Hall of Fame and the Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum in Baltimore, Md. “But, now I realize that it’s going to mean so much to people that get these cards, that get the jersey, it’s going to make it real special.” > > The company plans to put pieces of the jersey on cards that will be inserted into baseball card sets through 2006. The jersey has no number on the back, as the flannel predated numbering by four years, and has “G.H. Ruth” sewn inside the collar. [sup]EMPHASIS ADDED[/sup] May these money grubbing shitheads rot in Hell. Most people here are well enough aware of how little a sports enthusiast I am. However, this crosses the line. How the fuck does anyone really know for sure that they have a swatch of a true Ruth jersey? What about the inevitable counterfeits? This makes me want to puke! I hope these don’t sell at all. Sadly, I know they will. To paraphrase baseball collector, Jay O’Neill; Fuck almighty, what’s next, a copy of our Declaration of Independence? What would the scrap containing John Hancock’s signature bring? Let’s find out!!! **SHITHEADS!** ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/2 "2003-10-20T21:20:08Z")
Sorry, Zen, I can’t get behind you on this one. In fact, I can’t even begin to comprehend how one can even try to compare a jersey to the Declaration of Independence. Then again, I can visit Babe’s remaining intact jersey whenever I want. Wait, have I been whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/3 "2003-10-20T21:23:58Z")
Perhaps if there wasn’t a market of idiots willing to snap up a square inch of fabric, we wouldn’t have these problems. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/4 "2003-10-20T21:32:10Z")
I’ll buy a couple packs of Donruss cards hoping to get a swatch. If I do, I’ll be one step closer to the culmination of my ultimate project – a reanimated corpse of Babe Ruth. And then I’ll sell him to the Red Sox, and finance a Broadway play with my proceeds. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/5 "2003-10-20T21:39:17Z")
When the Beatles passed through town and stayed the night at a local hotel, the bedsheets were cut into small squares and sold. How special does anyone think those bits of cloth are today? The cutting up of a jersey doesn’t seem like much, but baseball is a truly American sport and as such, we seem to hold its artifacts in high regard. It’s sad that someone feels the need to capitalize on this bit of memorabilia. While it wouldn’t rank up there with the aforementioned Declaration, it’s more than indicative of corporate and personal greed in this country. The rise of online auction houses like eBay has decimated literary works, with untold hundreds being disbound and cut up for the purpose of selling the plates contained therein. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/6 "2003-10-20T21:45:25Z")
It’s a _shirt_, fercryinoutloud! It’s not the Holy Grail or the Shroud of Turin. As for the historical value of it: what knowledge do we have regarding Babe Ruth / Baseball / 1925 / anything else that we would lose if it gets sliced and diced? How is this mystical jersey any different from the ones his teammates wore? I’ve never been keen on the worship of “stuff” for its own sake. An artifact is only of historical relevance if it teaches us something, in my opinion. It seems to me that if the family of Ruth is allowing this to occur, the perceived value of this jersey lies only in the minds of collectors, and has little to do with anything of historical relevance. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/7 "2003-10-20T21:56:36Z")
**lno** , if you get the swatch, give me a call, I’ll bring over the lock of hair and bit of dried blood I have of the man, and we could really get something going. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/8 "2003-10-20T21:58:43Z")
It’s a fuckin’ shirt. No, it’s worse than a shirt, which at least people can wear to keep warm. It’s fuckin’ _sports memorabilia_. Comparing it to the Declaration of Independence is ridiculous. One is the founding document of a nation that has had a central role in shaping world events for the last 230 years. The other is a shirt that used to be worn by a guy who was good at a game. I have a lot of trouble seeing the equivalency. Still, as marketing disasters go, I’m sure this will end up ranking alongside New Coke. The kind of sports fan who would be interested in owning a 75 year old jizz-rag are the same fans who are going to blow a gasket over the “desecration of our national history.” Not sure who’s dumber, here: Donruss for alienating their customer base, or the customer base who (I am sure) will allow themselves to be alienated over such a petty and meaningless marketing stunt. But I guess that’s pro-sports in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/9 "2003-10-20T22:08:46Z")
yep, sorry, I can’t get behind you on this one either. To add to the whole mess of ‘it’s a shirt fercryinoutloud’ is the concept of ownership. Once you **sell** something, you really don’t have a voice in how it’s used (unless that was part of the agreement to sell in the first place). I wouldn’t spend a dime on a ‘piece of babe’s shirt’ my own self. And you should **really** be glad that it hadn’t been left to me in a will or something ('cause I woulda auctioned it off on ebay… 😃 ) but then, I’m not a sports fan, either. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/10 "2003-10-20T22:32:20Z")
The fuckheads are well within their rights to slice and dice the jersey. But make no mistake about it: they _are_ fuckheads for doing so. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/11 "2003-10-20T22:35:57Z")
> [@](#): > > When the Beatles passed through town and stayed the night at a local hotel, the bedsheets were cut into small squares and sold. How special does anyone think those bits of cloth are today? I actually have some Beatles-sheet-squares…Just saying is all. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/12 "2003-10-20T23:07:35Z")
As one who has worked in a museum, let me say that this is not just a shirt, but an actual historical artifact. And it belongs in a MUSEUM, not cut up and sold for profit! _faints_ And I’m not even a sports fan, and I’m outraged! This looks to be a rare piece that should be preserved. I have a feeling that the people I worked with would be pissed too! ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/13 "2003-10-20T23:19:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*As one who has worked in a museum, let me say that this is not just a shirt, but an actual historical artifact. And it belongs in a MUSEUM, not cut up and sold for profit! > > _faints_ > And I’m not even a sports fan, and I’m outraged! This looks to be a rare piece that should be preserved. I have a feeling that the people I worked with would be pissed too! \*\* So is the clump of dirt he spit in a historical articfact as well? Where do we draw the line? It’s a sweaty shirt, burn it for all I care, who actually gives a shit about this? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/14 "2003-10-20T23:24:37Z")
Yup, it’s Just A Shirt. Manufactured the same as hundreds of others, nothing intrinsically or historically interesting about it except that it was worn by a sweaty athlete once upon a time. So by that standard, you don’t lose any of the sympathetic magic (and that’s all it is) by slicing it up into patches – you just give 2100 people a chance to revel in it. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/15 "2003-10-20T23:24:45Z")
Yup, it’s Just A Shirt. Manufactured the same as hundreds of others, nothing intrinsically or historically interesting about it except that it was worn by a sweaty athlete once upon a time. So by that standard, you don’t lose any of the sympathetic magic (and that’s all it is) by slicing it up into patches – you just give 2100 people a chance to revel in it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/16 "2003-10-20T23:30:25Z")
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I could’ve sworn that I heard that the Babe’s uniform was missing-that it was part of a collection of sports memorabilia that disappeared a long time ago. All I am saying is that something like this SHOULD have been offered to a museum. The place where I worked had a tattered, ratty old poke bonnet that turned out to have been worn at an event during the Civil War, or something like that. It was kept, even though it was just a stupid straw bonnet that most people would probably toss. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/17 "2003-10-20T23:34:15Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Guinastasia_ > And it belongs in a MUSEUM, not cut up and sold for profit! So do you, Doctor Jones! I’m auctioning off whiskers from my beard – when I become famous for managing the zombie corpse of Babe Ruth, those’ll be worth something, someday. You can have five whiskers for twenty-five cents. That’s what they used to say in the old days, “gimme five whiskers for a quarter!” But that’s when reanimating zombies was the style at the time… ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/18 "2003-10-20T23:59:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*As one who has worked in a museum, let me say that this is not just a shirt, but an actual historical artifact. And it belongs in a MUSEUM, not cut up and sold for profit! > > _faints_ > \*\* Not Profits! Oh no! Get the fuck over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/19 "2003-10-21T00:01:51Z")
I am 100% behind **Zenster** on this one. I’ll have to add the disclaimer that I’m not American, and baseball means less than nuffin’ to me. But I know it is sacred to many in the States, and I know what Babe Ruth means to many folks. I also know that there are Australian icons which are held to be more sacred than, or at least as sacred as, our political artifacts. If anybody tried this with some of Don Bradman’s (greatest cricketer who ever lived, and arguably the greatest sportsman in any soprt ever - including baseball, apparently) stuff, they would be lynched. Young kids climbing on a statue of a racehorse (yes, a mere racehorse), were told by an old man, “Get off there before I whack ye! Have you no RESPECT for the dead??” Only a horse, mind you, but that horse was the great _Phar Lap_, which was beyond mere icon status for Australians in the Great Depression. I think you guys have taken **Zenster** ’s Declaration of Independence quote (and a quote is all it was) a bit the wrong way. He’s totally right - this is sacrilege of the highest order. I’m pissed off about this as it is. Were I American, I’d be going ballistic. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582/20 "2003-10-21T00:03:33Z")
I’m sorry if I think that preserving history is more important than making a buck. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/money-grubbing-shitheads-slice-and-dice-a-piece-of-history/208582.md?page=2)