Leaf Trading Cards announced Wednesday it had acquired the jersey worn in "The Natural" by Michael Madsen's character Bump Bailey, and it was being cut up and inserted into an upcoming product.
My heart dropped.
Not since Donruss cut up a Babe Ruth jersey and put it into cards in 2003 had I been so heartbroken.
Back then, the Ruth jersey cost $264,000. Today, that jersey would be a million-dollar item, and it would be cost prohibitive (thank goodness) for companies to put it into packs.
But that still leaves open a category of great and iconic pieces out there that can be had for a price where it still makes sense to slice it up.
After his unfortunate accident trying to make a sensational catch, we were able to secure Bump Baileys uniform. Yes this is the movie game worn uniform! These will be in 2025 Leaf Spectacular Baseball! pic.twitter.com/lzSkc6iUGy
— Leaf Trading Cards (@Leaf_Cards) November 4, 2025
Enter Bump Bailey from the classic 1984 baseball movie.
Bailey was a decent player, but he was definitely on the take, making errors on purpose so his New York Knights would lose.
In one afternoon game, Bailey tracked a long fly ball to the warning track, crashed through the wooden outfield fence and died from the impact.
It was an abrupt way for Robert Redford's character Roy Hobbs to get into the lineup, but that's how it happened in Barry Levinson's film.
"The Natural" is my favorite movie of all time, so anything from that film has great appeal for me as a collector.
In 2022, I made a bid to win a photo-matched "Wonderboy" bat from the scene in which Hobbs put the bat in a case. The auction house estimated it to be worth $15,000 to $20,000. It sold for $137,500.
There are two things that bother me about the Bump Bailey jersey.
First, the sale happened under the radar, so as a collector of all things from "The Natural," I'm frustrated that this one slipped by me.
Second, Leaf wasn't able to attain licensing rights from the film, so I'm not even inclined to buy one of the jersey cards.
The cards feature Madsen in a button-down shirt, a photo from much later in his life.
“We bought it years ago in an auction," Leaf president Josh Pankow told cllct. "The licensing is always very difficult and would have restricted us greatly in terms of what we could use the card in.”
Pankow added Sony Pictures would have to approve all aspects of the card — " the design, the set, everything."
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Still, it's a jarring miss to see the image of Madsen, who went on to star in "Reservoir Dogs," "Kill Bill," and "Thelma & Louise," next to some of the beautiful patch pieces from his Knights jersey.
I commend Leaf for getting the rights to produce a Madsen card before his death in July, but it still feels like this jersey deserved a better fate.
Who knows? If the Leaf cards are cheap, maybe I will buy a couple and then use the relics to make my own cards.
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Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.