KOR
▲ Ohtani baseball card and gold patch sold for 15.8 billion won
US media outlets including ESPN and USA Today reported today (July 31) that a baseball card of Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers) was sold for 11 million dollars (approx. 15.8 billion won), marking the third-highest sports card transaction in history.
This card features Ohtani's signature in both English and Chinese characters, along with two MLB gold patches worn on his uniform.
Ohtani won the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025.
In MLB, winners of the MVP, Cy Young Award, and Rookie of the Year attach specially crafted gold patches to their uniforms in the following season.
The two gold patches were attached to the uniforms Ohtani wore when he hit home runs in a game against the Baltimore Orioles in September 2025 and a game against the Texas Rangers in April 2026.
It was reported that a card collector in Florida, USA, obtained an exchange ticket for this card at a card shop and directly approached Matthew Allen, a specialized collector of sports cards across various disciplines, to sell it.
The transaction amount was revealed after Allen stated on his social media account that he purchased it for over 10 million dollars.
Transactions of highly collectible sports cards are active in the United States.
According to US media reports, a card featuring the autographs of NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant side by side, which was sold last year, holds the record for the highest sports card transaction at 12.93 million dollars.
A 1952 MLB New York Yankees Mickey Mantle card, which received a 9.5 grade—just one tier below the highest grade of 10 from the US sports card grading company SGC—ranked second, trading for 12.6 million dollars.
US media introduced that Ohtani's baseball card, as he writes history in MLB through his two-way play, has seen a surge in the trading market over the past year, with cards selling for over 1 million dollars reaching five times since last December alone.
In July of this year, a 9.5-graded card from his rookie season in the big leagues in 2018 was also sold for 3.365 million dollars at an auction.
Meanwhile, Ohtani, who has currently stopped pitching due to left knee pain, unusually requested a rest from the team and did not start as the designated hitter in today's game against the Seattle Mariners.
(Photo: Capture from Topps social media account, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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