The Seattle Mariners gave away 20,000 baseball cards to fans earlier this month, but one 13-year-old could end up getting far more than a simple souvenir. She may soon have enough money from the card to purchase a fairly decent used car. Even more unusual, the player featured on the card has no MLB hits, no major league service time and, technically, is a raccoon.
A fan named Abby received the one-of-one gold rookie card featuring Seattle’s internet-famous raccoon, Jimothy, during the Mariners’ Aug. 5 promotion. She later listed the rare card on eBay.
According to MyNorthwest, the bidding had climbed to nearly $17,000 by Saturday, with the auction still scheduled to remain open through Sunday.
Jimothy Has A Better Rookie Card Market Than Actual Baseball Players
Six months ago, trying to explain this story to a serious baseball-card collector probably would have sounded completely absurd.
The Mariners handed out rookie cards to the first 20,000 fans who entered T-Mobile Park for their Aug. 5 matchup with Detroit. While most fans walked away with the standard Jimothy card, Seattle made the giveaway much more interesting by creating several rare variations — including parallels limited to 2,000, glossy blue versions capped at 500, silver cards limited to 100, and one incredibly rare gold one-of-one.
Abby happened to be the lucky fan who pulled the golden ticket.
On Tuesday, 68 bids had already pushed the card’s price to $5,400. Just a day later, another 13 bids sent the value soaring past $12,000 to $12,300. As of this writing, the card has climbed even higher and is sitting at roughly $16,700.
And once again, the wildest part is that the card was free.
Abby didn’t have to spend $700 on a hobby box, join a card break, or spend months debating PSA grading and centering with strangers online. She simply showed up to a Mariners game and received a piece of cardboard featuring a raccoon.
Somehow, that free giveaway has now turned into a potential five-figure payday.
Jimothy Somehow Became a Seattle Sports Star
For anyone who has somehow managed to avoid this particular corner of the internet, Jimothy is a raccoon from Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood who became an unexpected viral sensation this summer thanks to his unusually short, rounded body and unmistakable way of walking.
The Mariners quickly embraced their furry celebrity and turned Jimothy into an unofficial mascot. He made an appearance in the team’s famous in-game salmon race, somehow won the competition and eventually became popular enough that Mariners players showed up to batting practice wearing Jimothy-themed shirts.
At that point, baseball cards were basically inevitable.
The back of Jimothy’s rookie card takes the joke even further with a hilariously serious-looking scouting report. His throwing arm is described as “all fours,” while the question of whether he bats receives perhaps the most honest scouting evaluation ever printed on a baseball card: no — because he’s a raccoon.
Here’s a polished paraphrase that keeps the humorous, viral-blogger tone:
The promotion turned into an unexpected phenomenon, with both Jimothy-themed ticket events selling out. The demand was so strong that Seattle added a second date after the first event vanished almost instantly.
The secondary market also exploded almost right away. Even the standard giveaway cards started fetching real money, while the one-of-one gold version quickly became the ultimate prize for collectors.
Now, a 13-year-old fan is at the center of a bidding war that has already pushed the card beyond $12,000.
For perspective, there are legitimate MLB rookies whose autographed cards don’t come close to that kind of money.
Jimothy has never stepped into a batter’s box, has absolutely no way to sign his own card and likely spends at least some of his nights rummaging through trash cans.
Yet somehow, his rookie card is now a five-figure collectible.
