Rare rookie card of Pirates' Paul Skenes fetches $1.11M at auction - ESPN

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes' 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB debut patch autograph card sold for a stunning $1.11 million, including buyer's premium, on Thursday.

It's a record paid for a Skenes card — whose 2025 base salary is $875,000 — and the most expensive modern, non-Mike Trout baseball card. (A 1-of-1 Trout rookie card sold for $3.9 million in August 2020, then the most expensive sports card of all time.)

The buyer's identity is currently unknown. The card was sold via Fanatics Collect.

The 1-of-1 numbered, on-card autographed card includes a patch Skenes wore on his Pirates uniform during his MLB debut, a conceit that MLB exclusive trading card licensee Topps developed and introduced for the 2023 season.

Pre-Skenes, the most paid for one was $150,000 in a private sale for Anthony Volpe's last summer; Jackson Holiday's MLB debut patch autograph card sold for $198,000, including buyer's premium, in Thursday's auction.

The Skenes factor — the NL's All-Star Game starting pitcher, a Cy Young finalist and Rookie of the Year in 2024 — spawned a chase rarely seen for a modern sports card, baseball or otherwise. This past Christmas, an 11-year-old Dodgers fan from Los Angeles (the family is still remaining anonymous) pulled the Skenes redemption card from his lone Christmas present.

The Pirates offered a bounty including 30 years of season tickets, a meet-and-greet with Skenes and two signed jerseys, and a number of private PNC Park and spring training tours and experiences in exchange for the card. Skenes' girlfriend and LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne offered to host whoever pulled the card for a Pirates game in her suite; Seth Meyers, host of «Late Night with Seth Meyers» also offered a VIP experience just to see the