Shohei Ohtani 50-50 card sells for US$1.07 million, includes piece of star’s trousers
Baseball card signed by LA Dodgers star includes piece of uniform he wore when becoming first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
A baseball card autographed by Shohei Ohtani and featuring a piece of the trousers the Dodgers’ superstar wore while becoming the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season has sold for more than US$1 million (HK$7.78 million).
The one-of-a-kind Topps Dynasty Black card, that features an on-card signature in gold ink by Ohtani and the MLB logo patch from the pants he wore during his record-setting game against the Miami Marlins, was sold by Heritage Auctions on Saturday night for US$1,067,500. The name of the buyer has not been revealed.
That is by far the most money paid in a public auction for an Ohtani card. The previous record was the US$533,140 paid last year for a card from the 2018 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographs Orange Refractor set. While 25 of those cards exist, that one received a 10 from the Beckett Grading Service.
The record-setting card is one of three different cards from the 50-50 game that Topps used to launch its Dynasty Black series, which features single autographed cards with pieces of game-used memorabilia from specific, historic moments.
One of those Ohtani 50-50 cards – which includes a tag from the batting gloves Ohtani wore while hitting his 50th home run and a laundry tag from the pants he wore during that game – received US$173,240 at auction in February.
“Shohei Ohtani is currently the best player in the game, and this one-of-one card is tied to a significant historical moment as the first MLB player to join the 50-50 club in 2024,” Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage, said. “It is also the most desirable of the three one-of-one Dynasty black cards because of the logo patch.”