"It's really classy" - Paul Skenes gets candid as his $1.1M debut card finds its way home to Pittsburgh

When Topps rolled out the autographed MLB debut patch card series, they knew it would take collectors by storm, which was the case when Paul Skenes' card was sold for $1.1 million at a Fanatics auction to Dick's Sporting Goods, who have since put their purchase on display at their Pittsburgh store.

An 11-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers fan was the lucky owner of the card when it found its place among the Topps Chrome Update Series pack his family had got for him last Christmas.

His family, which remained anonymous, declined the Pittsburgh Pirates' bounty offer of trading for the card and instead decided to auction it at the Fanatics Collect March Premier auction, which aided Los Angeles fire relief funds.

On MLB Network's Intentional Talk show, Paul Skenes opened up on the experience of going to the Dick's The House of Sport in Pittsburgh where they had an exhibition for the premium card, while also sharing his meet up with the fan (6:00):

"Oh, it's awesome. I got to go to Dick's, I think it's called The House of Sport out there. It's an unbelievable store. And they got this cool, exhibit, I guess, for it and just a really cool way to display the card. Kind of cool to come back and see it back in Pittsburgh. I think it was really classy of Dick's to buy it. "Awesome for the kid. Got to meet the kid in LA. It was just kind of a cool thing for me. Obviously, for everybody involved too, but for me to kind of see everything, share this piece of, you know, my debut with a lot of other people. It's just a cool program that they're doing, no doubt about it."

Before Skenes, other MLB debut patch cards that sold for a price included the Baltimore Orioles' Jackson Holliday's card, which went for $198,000, and Anthony Volpe's, which was bought for $150,000.

Paul Skenes' card, which reached seven figures, is the highest price a baseball card has been bought for that doesn't belong to Mike Trout.

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Paul Skenes details his "not sexy" routine before every start

On the aforementioned show, Paul Skenes was also asked about how he prepares on a day when he's starting.

The Pirates pitcher gave a detailed breakdown of his routine, calling it boring, as it's repetitive and contains nothing extraordinary (12:00).

"I wake up like 9:30, make myself breakfast, hang out at home or at the hotel, I guess if we're on the road, and go to the field, eat there, hang out for a couple of ... I like to hang out in the locker room just for a couple of hours before I get going. Kind of takes the edge off a little bit, be around some of the guys, because there are some nerves I think, before every start. "I'll eat again probably around 4:00. If it's 7:00, I'll eat again around 4:30, 4:45 and then get into my routine. Have some scouting meetings and some stretching and stuff like that somewhere in there and then get into the body prep after I eat. It's not sexy. It's the same thing every time. It's pretty boring," Skenes said.

Paul Skenes continues to lead the National League with a 2.02 ERA through 23 starts, but has a 6-8 W-L record, credited to a lackluster Pirates offense.

Edited by Bhargav