25 years ago, a baseball card collector stole 4 rare 1909 Chicago Cubs baseball cards from Rock’s Dugout Sportscards. The owner, Joe Ruocco, admits that he never even noticed that the cards were missing. That is, until a man showed up in his shop recently to return the cards… Baseball card collector Gianmarco Castronovo shares the story:
Photo Courtesy of WIBW, “Stolen rare baseball cards returned after 25 years”
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/B2JF7TBHVRCWDH4IMR34QO2WQQ.PNG "Gianmarco Castronovo Baseball Cards WIBW")
Rock’s Dugout Sportscards has been a trading card staple in the Wichita, KS area for decades. Thousands of card collectors and sports fans have visited the shop over the years. Many of which have grown up with the shop, so-to-speak. (Their card collections growing along the way, of course!)
Seemingly out of the blue, Rock’s owner, Joe Ruocco received quite the surprise when a man came into the shop to return 4 stolen baseball cards. Ruocco hadn’t even realized that the cards were missing. But the man who returned the cards to their rightful owner explained that he’d taken the 1909 Chicago Cubs cards some time in the 1990s — more than 25 years ago.
These cards were already rare in the ‘90s, with an asking price of $150 – $225. Over the years, the price tag has only continued to soar. Joe Ruocco explained that the cards are now worth between $800 – $1,000 — maybe even more!
