A commemorative baseball card of Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Ohtani Shohei (Los Angeles Dodgers) sold for $11 million (about 15.8 billion won), the third-highest price in history.
According to major U.S. outlets including ESPN and USA Today on the 31st, the card not only bears Ohtani's handwritten signatures in English and kanji, but also features two official MLB "gold patches," removed from a game-worn jersey he wore.
Ohtani won the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 2024 and 2025 in succession. MLB gives special gold patches that winners of the MVP, the top pitcher's Cy Young Award, the Rookie of the Year, and other honors can attach to their uniforms the following year.
The two pieces of patches used on this card were taken from uniforms Ohtani wore when he homered against the Baltimore Orioles in September 2025 and in a matchup with the Texas Rangers in April 2026.
This special item surfaced when a collector living in Florida drew a redemption at a card specialty shop. He then reportedly contacted big spender Matthew Allen, who specializes in buying rare cards across various sports, to complete the transaction.
Buyer Allen revealed via his social media (SNS) that he acquired the card by spending more than $10 million, confirming the specific sale price. In the United States, there is an active market for buying and selling highly collectible sports cards.
The most expensive sports card sold to date is a product transacted last year bearing the simultaneous handwritten signatures of NBA legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. The sale price was $12.93 million, ranking first all time. Next is a 1952 New York Yankees Mickey Mantle card that received a near-perfect grade of 9.5 from the U.S. sports card grading agency SGC, which ranks second at $12.6 million.