A lucky 11-year-old baseball fan in Los Angeles finally pulled the 1-of-1 autographed Paul Skenes debut card. The card was unveiled in November as part of Topps Chrome update set.
Paul Skenes took the major leagues by storm in his rookie season, going 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts over 133 innings. Pared with his immense success on the field, Skenes found fame beyond the diamond in his relationship with LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne.
Dunne has been very active in attending Pirates games and her social media fame certainly brought a larger-than-normal following to the Pirates this past season.
Skenes’ success and popularity equates to one of the most sought-after collectible items in recent memory. The card includes Skenes autographed debut patch, which rookies started to wear in 2023 for their debut game. These patches were signed and delivered to Topps for each player's debut collectible baseball card.
Immediately after the launch in November, the Pirates offered a pretty sweet deal in my opinion for the card.
The offer was 2 season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years.
And using PNC Park for a 30-man softball game with Pirates players as coaches
And getting to take batting practice with the team for an unspecified amount of times.
And meeting Paul Skenes + 2 autographed jerseys. (glad they specified that one)
And to sit with Livvy Dunne in her suite for a game.
The card’s value is reportedly well into the six figures but a card of this magnitude is also unprecedented. It wouldn't shock some insiders with a very steep price tag.
Honestly, it feels great that a young kid like that pulled this card. Fans of collectibles know the joy of rare items and especially in the case of a card like this, it’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime memory.
Cheers kid!
