It's like heroin

Not that I know what heroin feels like or even looks like. Honestly.

However, I know an addiction when I have one. I rarely have them. I think I was addicted to Cool Ranch Doritos once upon a time. I might have been addicted to redheads at one point, but I have been happily married to a beautiful brunette for sixteen years now.

So what is this addiction?

2009 Sweet Spot.

I can't help myself. The boxes were LOADED this year with great hits. Not just rookie autos and autos on baseball leather, but patches, bat barrels, bat autos, glove autos, and a great design. I probably have bought 10-12 full boxes of the stuff over the last eight months, at an average of $24 per pack, six packs per box, so that is almost $1500. Wow! To see that in writing scares me. The price also continues to rise, but I still quiver when I'm in my favorite store, itching to get my hands on "The Sweet Spot" auto from each full box. (That's one sure sign of addiction.)

I can guess pretty well as to where the Sweet Spot is, but sometimes get fooled. Luckily, I have only once come across a box without a Sweet Spot auto or Classic Patch. That was a bummer of a day.

I have pulled some amazing cards from 2009 Sweet Spot which have probably made up for most of the cost of all these packs, including:

• Ralph Kiner Classic Bat Barrel Nameplate #1/2
• Catfish Hunter Classic Patches #/27
• Nolan Ryan auto on glove leather
• Robin Yount redemption auto
• Ken Griffey, Jr. auto on bat
• Derek Jeter auto on ball leather
• Dick Allen auto on bat
• Tommy Hanson RC Silver auto
• Tommy Hanson RC auto
• Rick Porcello RC Silver auto
• Ryan Perry, James McDonald, Donald Veal, David Price, Bret Anderson, Everth Cabrera, James Parr, Shairon Martis, Phil Coke and Elvis Andrus RC autos
• Nate McLouth, Cody Ross, Hanley Ramirez, Ken Griffey, Sr. and Jamie Shields Sweet Spot autos

I'm sure there are a few other hits that I've forgotten about. But I've done pretty good so far. At least I thought so until last Friday.

That's when I stopped in one more time to check out the $2 autos box. However, a brand new box of Sweet Spot was sitting on the shelf calling my name. I opened five packs until I got the Sweet Spot of Nate McLouth, my second one of his. I did get the Parr RC auto and a Sweet Swatch patch of Dave Winfield. A little disappointing.

Then I spied a second box. Since I had taken five of the six from the first box, they opened the second box, and I was able to pick my pack. Luck would have it that I pulled the hit on the first try for this box. However, I wasn't expecting something as spectacular as I got:

Derek Jeter Bat Barrel Nameplate #6/6!

I nearly dropped the card. I was shaking with nerves! The owner's daughter, who is a BIG Jeter fan, immediately said, "Daddy! That's the card I want! I want that one!" Yeah, well good luck!

I haven't decided what exactly to do with this yet. I know I won't keep it. Jeter is a great player, but not my absolute favorite, and this would go a long way toward getting my some of the cards that I have on my fantasy want list. So I will let everyone know how I will be selling it, whether eBay or The Bench or private auction.

I do know, though, that this card is worth a lot. A LOT! A similar Alex Rodriguez card from 2002 Sweet Spot is on eBay for $3,000 BIN. I'm thinking that I may get near that for this card. Maybe I'm crazy, but a person knowledgeable in such cards suggested that to me. It will be worth a try. If anyone is interested and wants to preempt any public sale by offering me a king's ransom, please email me.

UPDATE: I heard from an eBayer who said that the other five have already been up on eBay and sold to collectors. That makes this the last one of the six available.