Pirates' Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne Reunite With Historic Card
In this story:
A reunion was in store for Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes during the Super Bowl.
At Fanatics' Super Bowl party on Sunday, Skenes and his girlfriend, LSU gymnast and social media star Olivia Dunne, got to see his MLB Debut Patch baseball card. The one-of-one card was found by an 11-year-old collector from Los Angeles and will be auctioned off through Fanatics.
Paul Skenes reunited with his MLB Debut Patch at last night’s Super Bowl party, where the 1/1 card was on display ahead of its upcoming auction. Livvy had never seen the card in-person before, so she also needed a solo photo with the piece of history 😆 pic.twitter.com/xsNnxw1Cz7
— Fanatics (@Fanatics) February 9, 2025
The proceeds from the Topps MLB collectible will be donated to the Los Angeles fire relief funds. The Skenes MLB Debut Patch will be auctioned at the Fanatics Collect March Premier auction.
The card was found on Jan. 21. The Pirates made an offer for the card, which included a meet and greet with Skenes, two autographed Skenes jerseys and two season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years, but the young collector and his family declined.
The 11-year-old collector who pulled the Paul Skenes 1/1 Debut Patch card just shared his journal entries…
— Topps (@Topps) January 24, 2025
It’s an absolute MUST-READ 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/PldkJMS06W
The debut patch marked the from his first big league start on May 11 marked the beginning of a historic season for Skenes that saw him win the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year and finish third in the NL CY Young vote. The Pirates right-hander went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts and set a Pirates franchise record for a rookie with 170 strikeouts over 133 innings pitched. The Pirates' star was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20, over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
Skenes finishing third for the NL CY Young Award made him the fifth rookie to accomplish the feat and the first since Jose Fernandez in 2013. Pittsburgh's ace was also the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game since Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.
