The young collector who scored a unique baseball card featuring 2024 National League rookie of the year Paul Skenes has turned down a trade offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the pitcher’s team.
Topps announced Friday that the 11-year-old from the Los Angeles area had declined the deal and instead was going to put the card — which features Skenes’ autograph and a patch from a game-worn jersey — up for auction.
The Pirates had put together a package that included 30 years’ worth of season tickets behind home plate at their PNC Park and the chance to play a softball game on the field in exchange for the card.
Skenes’ girlfriend, LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne, also offered the card’s owner the opportunity to take in a game with her in a luxury suite at the ballpark during one of Skenes’ starts.
While the collector wrote in a journal entry shared by Topps that nabbing the card was a “dream come true,” that dream apparently did not include spending the next three decades attending Pirates games.