The young fan who pulled a rare, one-of-one Paul Skenes rookie card has sold it for an astonishing $1.1million – despite the attempts of the Pirates and Livvy Dunne to convince him otherwise.
After the 11-year-old pulled the Topps MLB Debut Patch Card on Christmas Day last year, the Pirates offered the fan two tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years, a meet and great with Skenes and two Skenes autographed jerseys in exchange for the card, in addition to a softball game for 30 people at PNC Park.
Dunne, who is Skenes’ girlfriend, later added to that potential haul by offering to host the fan for a game in her Pirates suite.
However, the fan and his family rebuffed those proposals and on Thursday sold the card at an auction via Fanatics Collect for north of $1million.
Notably, the financial windfall from the card is more than Skenes’ base salary, $875,000, for 2025.
Fanatics had announced in January that the card would be available via auction in March.
The fan denied offers from Livvy Dunne and the Pirates to hand over the Paul Skenes card
Dunne offered to host the fan in her suite during a Pirates game, but he took the card to auction
According to ESPN’s Dan Hajducky, the Skenes card is the second-most expensive modern card outside of a Mike Trout rookie card.
That card, also a one-of-one, sold for $3.9million in 2020.
The Skenes card includes a patch he wore on his uniform during his first pro start, as well as his autograph.
Topps has only been making this type of rookie card since the 2023 season.
The $1.1million will have a life-changing impact for the fan and his family, as they told Fanatics it would be sending him and his brother to college, according to ESPN.
Fanatics previously announced that all proceeds from the sale would be donated to LA fire relief funds.
Skenes is now gearing up for his second season in the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates
Following the fan’s decision earlier this year to take the card to auction, Topps posted a journal entry from the 11-year-old from after he drew the card.
He called landing the card a ‘dream come true’ and said he ‘started bouncing all over the place’ in celebration.
The Pirates responded somewhat melancholily to the news that the fan was rejecting their offer.
‘Well…we’re bummed that we won’t be seeing you behind home plate for 30 seasons, the team wrote on X.
‘But we’d still love to bring you to Pittsburgh for a special day at PNC Park this season.
Skenes, 22, had a stellar rookie year as he was named an All-Star and quickly established himself as one of the best pitchers in the sport.
