What do 11-year-olds dream of?
Season tickets behind home plate? The chance to host your own softball game in a Big League ballpark? A seat next to Livvy Dunne in her private suite at a Pirates game?
Apparently, none of the above.
One lucky preteen was offered all this and more after pulling rookie phenom Paul Skene’s one-of-one autographed Topps baseball card. But on Friday he politely declined, deciding instead to see what he can fetch for the card on the open market.
From the moment the highly coveted card was revealed, the Pittsburgh Pirates made it known they were very, very interested.
“To the lucky person who finds this card… We’d love to bring this card home to PNC Park to share with all Buccos fans,” the Pirates social media team tweeted in November.
The Pirates listed all they would gift in return: Two (2) Pirates season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years, a softball game for 30 at PNC Park with coaching from Pirates alumni, a spring training experience “like no other,” including a private tour, a meet-and-greet with Skenes, two autographed jerseys from the rookie and a batting practice session.
Livvy Dunne, the famed gynmast and Skenes’ girlfriend, sweetened the pot, offering “the person who finds the card can sit with me at a Pirates game in my suite,” in a post on social media.
The preteen was all-in on finding the card, according to a journal entry shared by Topps.
“I started begging my mom for it for Christas,” they wrote, “The first present we opened was the hobby box … on the second pack, I got the Paul Skenes redemptions card. I started bouncing all over the place and my dad was [saying] ‘Letttts goooo.’ This card is a dream come true.”
If the 11-year-old was a Pirates fan, the franchise’s offer might have been more attractive. Instead, the young capitalist has decided to bring the card to auction
According to Sports Collectors Digest, the Topps card could fetch as many as six figures at auction because, in addition to Skenes’ signature, it contains the “MLB Debut” patch that was sewn into his jersey when he made his major league debut.
Skenes tossed 84 pitches during that outing — a Pirates win over the Chicago Cubs in May — and never looked back.
The first-overall selection from the 2023 MLB Draft made 23 starts throughout his rookie season and pitched to an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts over 133 innings.
His efforts were rewarded with a start in the All-Star Game, NL Rookie of the Year honors and a third place finish in NL Cy Young Award voting.
The Pirates didn’t hide their disappointment — though they still made a goodwill offer to the kid.
“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”