Collector hits home run
Crowley man wins valuable Mickey Mantle baseball card in contest
Kayla Gagnet
kgagnet@theadvertiser.com
July 31, 2004

Claudia B. Laws/The Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Chris Leblanc, left, of Crowley gets his first glimpse Friday of the $18,000 Mickey Mantle baseball card that he won as former New York Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry, center, and Tristar CEO and President Jeff Rosenberg look on at the Wal-Mart in Crowley.

CROWLEY - Chris Leblanc's hands were trembling as he opened the small but ornate wooden box that held a baseball card collector's dream. Friends and relatives huddled around as Leblanc showed off his prize - a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card valued at $18,000.

Leblanc, 25, already owns thousands of baseball cards for "any superstar you can think of." But the Crowley resident never expected to get a card for the late New York Yankee and baseball Hall of Famer.

Leblanc won the card when he bought a pack of Tristar Hidden Treasures baseball cards last month.

"I turned white," Leblanc said.

"I thought I had to call an ambulance," said Leblanc's girlfriend, Meghan Ferg.

On Friday, he exchanged the redemption certificate - a replica of the card - for the real thing in a presentation at the Wal-Mart store where he bought the winning pack.

On June 4, Leblanc was dropping off some of his employees from the flooring store he owns when they gave him $10 in cash for gas. He stopped by Wal-Mart to buy some things for his 1-year-old son, Chris Jr.

"I bought the card with my last $20 in cash," Leblanc said, adding that he never uses credit cards or checks to buy baseball cards. At the checkout counter, the cashier asked Leblanc why he spent so much money on baseball cards. Leblanc simply replied that the investment might pay off some day.

Now, his new treasure is on its way to a safe deposit box.

Another honor for Leblanc was meeting another famous New York Yankee - Lafayette native and former Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry.

Guidry said that although he never played with Mantle, he got to know him well. He said the 1952 card will only become more valuable through the years - both in dollar value and sentimental value.

"It's not the money. ... It's what the card represents about the guy that made it famous," Guidry told Leblanc and the small crowd Friday.

Although Leblanc has collected cards since he was 7 years old, he credits friend Terry Auger with getting him interested again in recent years. Auger owns Ray's Sports Cards in Scott, where Leblanc buys many of his collectibles.

"She makes a nice living off me," Leblanc joked.

Auger was at the ceremony Friday and was just as excited as Leblanc to see the famous Mantle card.

"It's a great pull" for a baseball card collector, Auger said. "It keeps you coming back when you pull something good."

10 valuable baseball cards

Ranked by minimum price:

• 1909 Honus Wagner, $250,000
• 1933 Napoleon Lajoie, $20,000
• 1952 Mickey Mantle, $12,000
• 1914 Joe Jackson, $5,000
• 1914 Ty Cobb, $3,600
• 1949 Satchel Paige, $3,500
• 1933 Babe Ruth, $3,500
• 1938 Joe Dimaggio, $2,000
• 1951 Willie Mays, $2,000
• 1954 Ted Williams, $2,000

Source: Forbes.com

©The Lafayette Daily Advertiser
July 31, 2004