Can you imagine what it would feel like to know that someone is so appreciative of your greatness that they would be willing to spend nearly $4 million on a piece of memorabilia? For a simple piece of cardboard -- or perhaps plastic, depending on what they're made from nowadays -- with a hastily scribbled signature?
Mike Trout doesn't have to imagine anymore. He already knew the feeling of having a humongous fan base, but now he's learned that the scenario laid out above, verbatim, has happened because of his greatness.
A signed Trout rookie card sold for $3.93 million at an auction, shattering the previous record for an individual baseball card that was set by a T206 Honus Wagner card, known widely as the Holy Grail of all baseball cards.
"Maybe I should've kept that one," Trout said after learning of the card's sale (via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN). "It's pretty incredible that a cardboard picture of me I worth that much. It's pretty humbling."
His reaction wasn't quite the same as Dr. Anthony Fauci's reaction, when the infectious disease specialist learned that his Topps Now card had shattered the company's past sales record.
The pure amount of Fauci cards probably makes them a lot less valuable now, while there is one, and only one, of the Bowman Trout signed rookie cards, with a stamp to certify this as fact (via Matt Kelly of MLB.com).
And we can only imagine what Honus Wagner's reaction is to learning that the T206 remains the most sought-after baseball card in existence, especially considering the Pirates legend demanded the discontinuation of this cigarette card. The reason? He likely opposed other people profiting from his likeness, according to author Michael O'Keeffe, and wasn't a big fan of cigarettes either (via David Zax of Smithsonian Mag).
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