Pitcher Nabs $20,000 Baseball Card

You know a lot of professional athletes are collectors of some sort. With all the cash they make, there are some nice collections out there, ranging from automobiles to fine art to clothing to sports collectibles.

The latest collector to come forward is Chris Perez, closer for the Cleveland Indians. Fresh off a new $2.2 million contract, Perez bought a 1-of-1 Topps card, one of those fold-out booklets. However, this one included the signatures of nine members of the
1927 New York Yankees, which included Babe Ruth and Lou
Gehrig. The "rest" were the other remaining starters for the 1927 team known as "Murderers' Row."

"This is definitely a nice little gift I'm giving myself for my new
contract," Perez said in a story posted on ESPN.com. "Some
people buy cars, jewelry, houses. I wanted to buy something a little
different. I could barely talk my wife into letting me bid the initial
$20,000 let alone get in a bidding war."

Perez said he collects some other items, including all of his own cards. the other big purchase he's made is a 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols rookie card that has sold for around $4,000.

If you made the amount of money a pro athlete makes, what sports collectible piece would you buy?