2018 Topps Chrome Sapphire Superfractor Rookie Autograph #AC-SO Shohei Ohtani - BGS 9.5/Autograph 10 | Rookie Card | 1 of 1 | On-Card Autograph

Some athletes are great, some push the game to new heights, and some are Shohei Ohtani.

How do you find a worthy comparison for someone who can simultaneously sit at the top of a team’s rotation and lead the league in slugging? How about trying to value MLB’s first ever 50-50 player who also came in as the closer in the most important game in his country’s history? Ohtani’s inexplicable prowess on the diamond generates far more questions than answers, and by the time you think you understand him he has redefined the game once again.

Ohtani came into 2024 a two-time MVP, three-time All-Star, and two-time Silver Slugger, yet this might be his most jaw-dropping season yet. In December, he signed the largest contract in sports history, a staggering $700 million deal, to move from Orange County to Los Angeles and don the Dodger blue. “Shotime” has lived up to the hype and come out the gates firing for the Dodgers as he hit the longest home run of the first half of the MLB season measured at 476 feet and was named a starter for the NL All-Star team. As you would expect, he met the opportunity head on and blasted a 400-foot three-run homer to open the scoring at the midsummer classic. Considered, at the time of cataloging, the favorite to win the 2024 NL MVP award, potentially becoming the first full-time designated hitter to earn the honor, Shohei has proved that he might be the most potent hitter in the sport even in the midst of recovery from Tommy John surgery.

This card commemorates Shohei’s 2018 season, his first stateside after five years with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan’s NPB. At just 23 years old, Shohei was nothing short of transcendent in his maiden campaign as he hit and pitched his way to being named the American League Rookie of the Year. On the mound, Ohtani’s tricky splitter drove him to an impressive 3.31 ERA while he slugged 22 homers. Throughout the season, the name he invoked most as a flame throwing slugger was that of Babe Ruth, but now seven years on there is no one who is truly in Ohtani’s league.

While Topps Chrome is already arguably the most recognizable set of sports cards released annually, the Sapphire Edition has managed to provide an added layer of exclusivity to the product since being first released in 2016. With a much shorter production run, each card in the set dazzles in brilliant colors and with a distinctive refractor design reminiscent of valuable gems. The 2018 set has become wildly coveted not only for Ohtani’s rookies but also for those of Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Rafael Devers, and more.

Unlike most other modern superstars, Ohtani didn’t come to the majors with an extensive checklist of cards from his time as a prospect. Ohtani played professionally in Japan and was included in a number of Japanese releases before immediately jumping to the MLB. As such, he was not included in any major MLB licensed product releases until his 2018 MLB rookie season, which makes cards of this nature the true start of his journey in the hobby as an MLB superstar. This print features the iconic gold vinyl Superfractor design that Topps exclusively reserves for wholly unique cards such as this and is marked with a “1/1” stamp on the back to indicate its singular nature.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Gem Mint condition, receiving a grade of 9.5 from Beckett Grading Services (BGS). The autograph was graded and received a 10 from BGS.

The BGS certificate number for this card is: 0010994938.

Going Deeper - Shohei Ohtani

Facing Trout

Already a widely known celebrity in Japan, Shohei Ohtani became a full-blown national treasure through the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

While his MVP-level exploits at the plate and on the mound in MLB had established his reputation on the field, he had relatively little to show in terms of major team hardware outside Japan’s top league, NPB. In the lead up to the 2023 WBC, likely the most-hyped international baseball tournament ever, it was clear that Ohtani would be in the center of spotlight. Of course, he lived up to the billing.

At the plate, Shohei stood atop the tournament in hits, runs, and walks while also turning around and leading all pitchers in innings pitched, carrying a razor thin 1.86 ERA over 9.2 innings. Alongside current and soon-to-be MLB stars such as Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki, Samurai Japan mowed down their group winning all four games by a combined margin of 38-8. After defeating Italy and Mexico in the first two rounds of the knockout stage, including Ohtani scoring the tying run on a come-from-behind walk-off double in the semis, a date with destiny was set with a championship matchup against the Americans.

A titanic duel, the title bout lived up to the billing as both teams took their shots. Each side mustered a pair of solo home runs while the headliners, Ohtani and then-Angels teammate and future inner circle Hall of Famer Mike Trout, contributed with hits of their own. Entering the 9th inning, the game was still up for grabs as Team USA came to the plate for the final time.

Heading into the game, despite Ohtani being listed as a DH, the plan always was that any save situation would result in the ball being handed to Shohei. What wasn’t in the plan however, was for Trout to be due up third. Despite walking the first batter he faced, Ohtani locked in and quickly got a double play ball from Mookie Betts setting up one of the most dramatic plate appearances in baseball history.

As Trout strode in the box and Ohtani circled the mound, the exuberant crowd in Miami rose to their feet. Despite never facing off before in a game, fans and broadcasters knew that they were witnessing an all-time moment. It was, as simply as announcer Joe Davis put it, “the best against the best.”

After Trout took the first pitch, a low slider, for ball one Ohtani adjusted his approach and began to attack. In four consecutive pitches, Ohtani hit 100 miles per hour on his fastball topping out at a blazing 102 and coaxing two dramatic whiffs from one of the greatest hitters of all time. With the count full, and Trout reeling, Ohtani pulled the string on an immaculate sweeper that broke just beyond the bat. Tossing his glove and hat into the crowd in triumph, Ohtani was mobbed by his euphoric Japanese teammates while the stunned American team looked on from the bench. 

Fittingly, for someone who had already ensured a considerable measure of sporting immortality, he did this all in what might be the most watched baseball game in history.