After his dad began recovering from a stroke, Rick Fayter pulled a rare Shohei Ohtani baseball card from a pack he bought at a Greater Cincinnati shop.
Rick Fayter was just looking for a way to decompress when he walked into a common card shop just outside Cincinnati.
The 47-year-old, who currently lives in Texas but grew up in Fairfield, Ohio, flew into town with his son after his father suffered a stroke in June. After spending days in the ICU, Fayter's father began responding to treatment that helped thin out a blood clot in his brain, putting him on the road to recovery.
In light of the good news, Fayter, who loves baseball and refers to himself as an avid baseball card "collector," visited Card Stocks in Liberty Township simply to just clear his mind.
Catching Fayter's eye in the shop were a few Topps Tier One Baseball card boxes, which contain premium autographed, relic and parallel cards.
After a brief consultation with an employee, Fayter said he opted to purchase a 2022 edition of the Tier One box for about $350.
Fayter opened the box right then and there and what he pulled was beyond his wildest dreams, something that netted him a significant return on investment.
Emerging from the silver-colored packaging was a 1-of-1 Topps 2022 Shohei Ohtani game-used bat knob signed relic card, graded near mint-mint+8.5 by Beckett Grading Services.
"When I ripped it open, it kind of ripped down the middle, and I could see is the name, and it said, 'Shohei Ohtani.' And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, man ... Is this happening right now?'"
The manufacture date written on the bat knob is 2018, which corresponds to Ohtani's rookie year when he played for the Los Angeles Angels. Since then, the Japanese-born superstar has gone on to become a five-time All-Star, a four-time MVP and a two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"Shohei Ohtani has completely transcended the game of baseball," said Fayter, who grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan. "He's bringing back the heartbeat of the game that the game needed ... He's somebody on the field that show enormous character and really appear to play the game because he truly loves it."
After citing that a comparative Ohtani card sold recently this year for $132,000, Fayter put his card up for auction with Goldin, a New Jersey-based auction house. Fayter's card ended up auctioning for just over $86,000 on Nov. 29.
Fayter added that his card's action landed in the top 15 on the Goldin Elite Auction list and was second priciest bat knob card ever sold.
While Fayter is looking forward to what the card auctions for, he said the proceeds will mostly go toward helping secure a good future for his 12-year-old son, who also plays baseball.
"Everything that I do is for my son, and that money could really benefit a lot of good prosperous things for his future," Fayter said.
The Enquirer reached out to Card Stocks for further comment but did not immediately receive response.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rare Shohei Ohtani baseball card purchased at Greater Cincinnati shop
Category: General Sports
