As the Dodgers chase another World Series title, one fan’s incredible pull is turning heads in the sports collecting world.
A one-of-one Shohei Ohtani card, with its own emotional origin story, could now fetch nearly half-a-million dollars.
When Rick Fayter stopped by a small card shop in Cincinnati last year, he wasn’t thinking about baseball.
He was thinking about his dad.
His father had just suffered a stroke, and after spending days by his side in the ICU, Fayter needed a break. Fayter, who is from Texas, stopped at a local card shop for some retail therapy with his son.
“I looked at my son,” Fayter said. “I said, ‘I don’t know about you, but I want to go down to the local card shop. I don’t care what we spend. Let’s just rip some boxes.’”
What he pulled was beyond his wildest dreams.
“As soon as it was ripping down one side, I could see the name on the back: Shohei Ohtani,” he said. “They were like, ‘do you realize what you just pulled?’ and I was like… ‘no.’”
The card is a 2022 Topps Tier One Shohei Ohtani Bat Knob Autograph.
It features a portion of a game-used bat by the Japanese baseball phenom during his time as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. It is one of one and among only three ever made.
Experts say it’s one of the rarest baseball cards ever produced, and collectors are already buzzing.
A 2020 version of the same Ohtani bat knob card sold last week for $132,000. With this one possibly tied to his rookie-year bat, some collectors believe it could fetch half a million dollars — or more.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Fayter said. “My son and I started collecting a couple years ago. I’m a single father, it’s just him and me, and we love baseball.”
Fayter brought the card to New Jersey where his dad was born to be auctioned through Goldin.
“This 2022 Bat Knob Auto represents the perfect convergence of rarity, timing, and emotional significance, making it one of the most anticipated listings of the year,” officials for the auction house said in a news release.
Interested bidders can participate in the auction through Goldin.co starting Nov. 7.
As for the World Series, Fayter now has an unexpected tie to Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Texas resident says he is rooting for them to rally and come back to win their second consecutive title.
The post ‘It said Shohei Ohtani’: Single dad pulls one of rarest baseball cards ever made while visiting ailing father appeared first on KTLA.
