World's Only Paul Skenes Rookie Card Found by Child

22.01.2025 00:22

Since last fall, baseball card collectors have been on the hunt for the world's only Paul Skenes rookie card in honor of the young Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher. Today, the search is officially over.

Topps, the manufacturer of the coveted Chrome Update cards, announced Jan. 21 that an 11-year-old collector from Los Angeles has pulled the one-of-one Skenes card from a pack. The treasure features Skenes' autograph and is emblazoned with his MLB Debut patch.

????????????????????????????????: The Paul Skenes 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card has been pulled by an 11-year-old collector from Los Angeles, CA. pic.twitter.com/tYZe5KuqM2
— Topps (@Topps) January 21, 2025

Back in November when the card was first released, the Pittsburgh Pirates extended an enticing offer to whoever got the lucky find. In trading over the card, the lucky holder would get two season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years, a softball game for 30, two autographed Skenes jerseys, and an unforgettable spring training experience complete with a Skenes meet-and-greet.

Skenes' girlfriend Livvy Dunne upped the ante with her own offer on social media. "Let's raise the stakes... The person who finds the card can sit with me at a Pirates game in my suite," she said.

Meanwhile, Ken Goldin, founder of the popular Goldin collectibles marketplace, urged whoever found the card to auction it off through him.

"Before anyone takes this or any deal, email me directly. Goldin will sell the card for you, put your kids through college and you can use the leftover money to buy entry into a meet and greet with Skenes if you want," he said, going on to note Goldin's historic sale of Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 ball last year. "Just ask the last guy who turned down an offer from an MLB team how that worked out for him."

It remains to be seen if the card is kept by the lucky collector, given to the Pirates, or sold at auction.