Collectibles On SI

Bryce Harper's 1/1 Tier 1 Bat Knob Honors the Late Harambe

Cole Benz|
Oct 8, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) looks on before game three against the New York Mets in the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Oct 8, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) looks on before game three against the New York Mets in the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Phillies

Bryce Harper's 2024 Topps Tier One 1/1 bat knob pays homage to Harambe, the beloved gorilla who sadly was euthanized when a 3-year old boy crawled under a fence and into his enclosure at a Cincinnati zoo. The unfortunate incident garnered widespread attention both domestically and abroad.

Harambe became an internet sensation. He was the subject of everything from goofy memes to serious discussions of zoos and their standards they set for housing animals.

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But in regards to baseball, this is just the latest iteration of players and their personalities coming out. Jackson Holliday had a 1/1 bat knob inscribed with 'Fun Face' in Topps' Dynasty product, a homage to the Billy Ripken's not-so-PG bat knob shown in his 1989 Fleer card.

While the Jackson Holliday's knob is hand written, it looks as though Bryce Harper's was professionally rendered. Just another example of the lengths these players will go to be creative an show their personalities. These kinds of things are good for baseball. It connects fans to players in ways that go outside the foul lines.

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The funny thing is that the Harambe bat knob already has supporters clamoring for the card, which is evident by the comments on the Topps post on X.

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The one thing we fans can hope for is that eventually players will start to try and out do one another, giving us collectors better and better pieces of cardboard to buy, sell, and trade.

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Cole Benz
COLE BENZ

After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz

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