“For instance, I bought cases of the 1982 Topps set – Lee Smith’s rookie year,” Young says. “I’d go through them and pick out the Lee Smith cards. While I’m in there, I’d also set aside the Cal Ripkens and the Kent Hrbecks. I easily recouped what I spent because I had maybe 10 Cal Ripken cards, and at that time they were going for $1,000 each. Plus, I got the Lee Smiths.”
Card values took a nosedive in the mid-2000s when the steroids scandal hit. Mark McGwire’s PSA 10, a $10,000 card, dropped to $1,000. “A Bonds card, you can buy one and get one free,” Young says. “But there are some cards, like Hank Aaron, that are never going down. In fact, that one is going up … because he’s Hank Aaron.”
Young’s own career took a nosedive in 2006 when injuries, problems with drugs and alcohol, and a domestic violence charge against a girlfriend put his life in turmoil. The low point came early that September when the Tigers released him after he’d slept on a clubhouse couch during an hour-long rain delay. Detroit went on to reach the World Series and Young was holed up in his den, finding solace only in his card collection.
“Through all of that, the cards were my best friend,” he says. “Things would go wrong and I’d get to look at these perfect cards and everything would seem OK.”