The sports card hobby has its newest star-name collector, Shohei Ohtani – and it’s all thanks to Mike Trout.
Ohtani and Trout’s unforgettable face-off in the spring’s World Baseball Classic meeting, which saw Japan come out with a 3-2 victory over Team USA, was a dramatic showdown between the current Los Angeles Angels teammates.
The matchup is memorialized for baseball card collectors with a Topps Now Moments card.
Now, Mike Trout has revealed that he bought three of the Topps Now cards, signed them, gave them to Shohei Ohtani to sign, hand-numbered them to 3, had them PSA graded, and then gifted one to Ohtani himself.
Two of the copies received a grade of Gem Mint 10 from PSA, and the third copy achieved a Mint 9 – The autos on all three copies achieved a grade of 10.
A Troutani “signature” moment we’ll never forget 😬 pic.twitter.com/PKZViAR20U
— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) August 9, 2023
Ohtani and Japan came out on top in the WBC championship game, after Trout struck out following a fierce battle, which is perfectly depicted by their expressions in the image on Trout’s tweet.
Shohei showed his gratitude to his teammate for the gesture, in a post on his Instagram page.
At the moment the three copies belong to Trout, Ohtani and translator Ippei Mizuhara – It’s unknown whether any will be listed for sale, and although it’s unlikely for any regular collector to get their hands on one of them, they’ve instantly become some of the most iconic baseball cards in the hobby.
In Trout’s own words, these cards are “a Troutani ‘signature’ moment we’ll never forget”.
