Not family friendly, but the first interview ever by Billy Ripken regarding what is known as the F*CK FACE card. I was a big card collector growing up and bought this for about 35 bucks at a card show in Fort Worth, I’m proud to say it’s worth about .50 these days.

This comes from Darren Rovell at CNBC. Link Here. Quotes from Billy Ripken here:

“I got a dozen bats in front of my locker
during the 1988 season. I pulled the bats out, model R161, and
noticed–because of the grain patterns–that they were too heavy. But I
decided I’d use one of them, at the very least, for my batting practice
bat.”

“Now
I had to write something on the bat. At Memorial Stadium, the bat room
was not too close to the clubhouse, so I wanted to write something that
I could find immediately if I looked up and it was 4:44 and I had to
get out there on the field a minute later and not be late. There were
five big grocery carts full of bats in there and if I wrote my number
3, it could be too confusing. So I wrote ‘F–k’ Face on it.”

“After
the season was over, in early January, I got a call from our PR guy
Rick Vaughn. He said, ‘Billy, we have a problem.’ And he told me what
was written on the bat and I couldn’t believe it. I went to a store and
saw the card and it all came back to me. We were in Fenway Park and I
had just taken my first round of BP. I threw my bat to the third base
side and strolled around the bases. When I was coming back, right
before I got up to hit again, I remember a guy tapping me on the
shoulder asking if he could take my picture. Never once did I think
about it. I posed for the shot and he took it.

“I
tried to deflect it as much as I could. It was fairly easy to say that
somebody got me with a joke because people think you’re the scum of the
earth for doing something like this. The truth is that there’s a lot of
words like that that are thrown around in the clubhouse. They just
don’t get out there.”

“I
can’t believe the people at Fleer couldn’t catch that. I mean, they
certainly have to have enough proofreaders to see it. I think not only
did they see it, they enhanced it. That writing on that bat is way too
clear. I don’t write that neat. I think they knew that once they saw
it, they could use the card to create an awful lot of stir.”

“I
have no idea where that bat is today. If I were to guess, I would say
it probably got lost after someone used it in a game. Probably a guy
like Brady Anderson because he choked up so he could use a heavier
bat.”

“Fleer
sent me some of the cards out of the goodness of their heart. I
autographed them and used them for my gifts to my groomsman in my
wedding (which took place that offseason). I figured, at the time, it
was better than giving them a set of cufflinks. I think I devalued the
cards by signing them though.”

“When
people recognize me, I see the look on their face. They think of the
card immediately and, before they even ask, I say, ‘Yeah, it was me.’ I
don’t know if it happens daily, but, to this day, it still happens a
couple of times a week.”

Such greatness.

Not family friendly, but the first interview ever by Billy Ripken regarding what is known as the F*CK FACE card. I was a big card collector growing up and bought this for about 35 bucks at a card show in Fort Worth, I’m proud to say it’s worth about .50 these days.

This comes from Darren Rovell at CNBC. Link Here. Quotes from Billy Ripken here:

“I got a dozen bats in front of my locker
during the 1988 season. I pulled the bats out, model R161, and
noticed–because of the grain patterns–that they were too heavy. But I
decided I’d use one of them, at the very least, for my batting practice
bat.”

“Now
I had to write something on the bat. At Memorial Stadium, the bat room
was not too close to the clubhouse, so I wanted to write something that
I could find immediately if I looked up and it was 4:44 and I had to
get out there on the field a minute later and not be late. There were
five big grocery carts full of bats in there and if I wrote my number
3, it could be too confusing. So I wrote ‘F–k’ Face on it.”

“After
the season was over, in early January, I got a call from our PR guy
Rick Vaughn. He said, ‘Billy, we have a problem.’ And he told me what
was written on the bat and I couldn’t believe it. I went to a store and
saw the card and it all came back to me. We were in Fenway Park and I
had just taken my first round of BP. I threw my bat to the third base
side and strolled around the bases. When I was coming back, right
before I got up to hit again, I remember a guy tapping me on the
shoulder asking if he could take my picture. Never once did I think
about it. I posed for the shot and he took it.

“I
tried to deflect it as much as I could. It was fairly easy to say that
somebody got me with a joke because people think you’re the scum of the
earth for doing something like this. The truth is that there’s a lot of
words like that that are thrown around in the clubhouse. They just
don’t get out there.”

“I
can’t believe the people at Fleer couldn’t catch that. I mean, they
certainly have to have enough proofreaders to see it. I think not only
did they see it, they enhanced it. That writing on that bat is way too
clear. I don’t write that neat. I think they knew that once they saw
it, they could use the card to create an awful lot of stir.”

“I
have no idea where that bat is today. If I were to guess, I would say
it probably got lost after someone used it in a game. Probably a guy
like Brady Anderson because he choked up so he could use a heavier
bat.”

“Fleer
sent me some of the cards out of the goodness of their heart. I
autographed them and used them for my gifts to my groomsman in my
wedding (which took place that offseason). I figured, at the time, it
was better than giving them a set of cufflinks. I think I devalued the
cards by signing them though.”

“When
people recognize me, I see the look on their face. They think of the
card immediately and, before they even ask, I say, ‘Yeah, it was me.’ I
don’t know if it happens daily, but, to this day, it still happens a
couple of times a week.”

Such greatness.