Baseball cards help 'Superman' return to flood-damaged home

Some sort of construction was going on in the background Tuesday afternoon at Art Pennington's home.

“They're working on the basement,” Pennington said, explaining the noise during a phone interview. “I've got to have my poker games down there. The fellas say they want to come over, so I'm trying to get it fixed up.”

A year ago, Pennington's home in the 900 block of Fifth Street SE was heavily damaged by flooding. The 86-year-old former Negro League baseball star, who has called Cedar Rapids home since playing here in the minor leagues in the mid-1950s, lost everything, including a lifetime's worth of baseball memorabilia.

But Pennington is “Superman” again.

He returned to his rebuilt home, one he has lived in for 50 years, two weeks ago. Life is considerably better, and “Superman” - his nickname during his playing days - has a considerable number of people to thank.

“It's been really nice of the public,” Pennington said. “They've really supported me since this happened.”

FEMA, a small pension from the New York Yankees, fundraising efforts and random donations have helped “Superman” get back on his feet.

So have baseball cards.

Pennington is included in a popular collector's set produced by The Topps Company called “Allen & Ginter.” The cards are designed after the Allen & Ginter cards of the late 1800s and include mostly current players, but also former players, athletes in other sports (such as Michael Phelps) and non-athletes (such as Joan of Arc).

Pennington autographed almost 250 of his cards for Topps, which are inserted into random packs. A seller on eBay Wednesday was asking $89.99 for the Pennington autographed card he pulled from a pack.

“Yeah, it's a nice picture, but I've got better ones of me,” Pennington said with a laugh.

“It's me, that's about all I can say.”

“Superman” said Topps gave him more than $1,000 for including him in the Allen & Ginter set and for signing the cards. He has autographed many more through the mail.

Pennington gets a handful of letters from fans every day, including one from England, asking him to autograph his card and including money: $10, $15, $25.

“I've had baseball cards before,” Pennington said. “I didn't even know this one was out there until I started getting them in the mail ... All I know is it's helped me get back in my house.”