Gene Bearden
 

A couple of years ago, during the Covid epidemic, I got a 1950 Bowman Gene Bearden card. He helped the Indians win the 1948 World Series with 2 wins as a pitcher before fading into obscurity. But more important to me, he was a survivor of the USS Helena, a cruiser torpedoed and sunk during World War II. He was wounded severely, according to the story. He was told he would never walk again, much less pitch again. Trouble is...

...It was all lies, all made up. He was never on the Helena in the South Pacific, but rather, a sub chaser in the Atlantic.

This is the worst case of made up BS that I think I have ever come across. The question is, why? Why would he make up a story like that? Now I want to get rid of that card.

Wow! What were your information sources?

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Bearden

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/gene-bearden/

From Wikipedia:

Originally serving at a blimp station in New Jersey, Bearden said that he was assigned to serve aboard the USS Helena in the Pacific Theater of Operations. During the Battle of Kula Gulf on July 6, 1943, he was working in the engine room of the light cruiser when it was struck by three Japanese torpedoes.[2] Forced to abandon ship as the Helena sank, Bearden fell from a ladder on the deck and sustained a fractured skull and a crushed kneecap. Hospitalized until early 1945, he underwent surgeries that inserted metal plates in his head and knee to treat his injuries.[2] In a 1949 autobiographical article published in The Sporting News' Official Baseball Register, Bearden declined to discuss his wartime experience, saying: "I was just another gob [slang for sailor], luckier than many, because I met up with a doctor who is, to me, the best orthopedic surgeon in the business."[4] Although the Helena story was repeated throughout his lifetime, it was not true. He was in the Navy, but serving in Florida during the relevant time period.[5] Copies of his Naval service records do not support the Helena story.

additional info
 

That sums it up quite clearly. Having served 26 years in the Navy, I was made aware of 2 "golden rules" to live by:

You don't lie to your shipmates

You don't steal from your shipmates

Okay, so I gave my beater 1950 Bowman Gene Bearden, which, due to it's beater condition, was worth peanuts, to someone who couldn't give a damn about his false history.

I guess that is better than what I did with a Hal Chase t205 when I discovered what a piece of $#@& he was. I cut it up and flushed it down the toilet. I was then vilified by card collectors here on net54 when I announced having done so. Tough tarts! I wanted that jerk's card gone!

So yes, you card investment guys who are only into cards for the money, the back story and history is important.

If we all destroyed the cards of people who did something we don’t like or was wrong, there would be no cards left.

It definitely ranks up there among the worst cases of veterans lying about their service.

I was thrilled to land a team ball that bore several signatures of war veterans with his placed among several combat veterans. Desiring to fully document his WWII service and his ordeal aboard the USS Helena led to a succession of discoveries showing that he could not have possibly served aboard the ill-fated cruiser. When I finally received his full service record, it was a bittersweet moment as it confirmed my research but also confirmed that he lied and lied big.

wow Scary and Sad.

I have always purchased more cards with emotion than with financial goals.


Well, but I do believe in standards, and with that in mind, I would rather collect Jackie, Aaron and Clemente than Rose and Palmeiro...or, now, Bearden.