One of the more infamous modern-era baseball cards apparently wasn’t the result of a prank.

It’s a card every kid growing up in the late-1980s had to have. Scandalous. Strange. And a public relations dream and nightmare all rolled into one. The 1989 Fleer "F***Face Billy Ripken card isn’t worth a lot anymore, but next to the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr., it might be the most popular card of the 80s.

It’s certainly still among the most talked about.

When the obscene card was first discovered, Ripken put the blame on teammates. Now that might not be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In fact, he told CNBC’s Darren Rovell that it was his own lapse of judgment that created all the hubbub.

Or so he says.