The Baltimore Orioles have called up Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball.
Holliday, 20, made his big-league debut Wednesday night against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, going 0-for-4 but getting his first major-league RBI on a groundout.
All eyes in the collecting world were looking at a patch on his jersey sleeve.
Starting in 2023, all rookies began wearing a commemorative patch for their first games as part of the Topps Chrome Update Series. The entire debut patch is then embedded into a single card, making for a one-of-one collectible item.
The current record spent for a patch card is $17,080, which is what collector Eric Mandelkern paid for one featuring Mets’ right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga.
Mandelkern said he believes the Holliday’s patch could be worth $250,000 or more.
“He has been the number one prospect, he is so young and he has just dominated the game at every level,” Mandelkern said. “He’s a five-tool player.”
Holliday posted a dominant spring training with the Orioles but began the season with Triple-A Norfolk. In 10 games with the Tides, Holliday hit .333/.482/.595 with two home runs and nine RBIs.
Mandelkern added that two other factors will certainly come into play.
Holliday is the son of Matt Holliday, a former seven-time All-Star. His family lineage will certainly factor into the lore around his memorabilia worth. The second is Holliday is part of an up-and-coming organization that has had huge success developing talent.
We will likely have to wait several months before we learn the value of Holliday’s rookie patch. The 2023 series wasn’t released until November, so Mandelkern’s $250,000 estimate is assuming Holliday lives up to the hype.
But Mandelkern guaranteed at least $150,000 for Holliday’s patch, which would at least tie the price offered by Dave & Adam’s Card World for Anthony Volpe’s debut patch card from last year. The card store offered a $150,000 bounty for the one-of-one card of the Yankees shortstop last November. The whereabouts of which are unknown.
The Red Sox ticketing office confirmed to cllct that fans who come to the box office and purchase a ticket at the window, will receive a hard ticket. Anyone who already purchased a ticket online, can purchase a hard ticket through the MLB Ballpark app, which will be mailed out. But if you order an official commemorative ticket through the app, it will be labeled “not valid for admission”, per PSA.
First 15,000 fans 15 and over Friday night at OPaCY get a t-shirt #orioles pic.twitter.com/daJDDOAxZ5
— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) April 10, 2024
Holliday is expected to make his home debut Friday, when Baltimore hosts the Brewers.
The Orioles announced Wednesday they will have a Holliday debut T-shirt giveaway to the first 15,000 fans ages 15 and up. The Orioles ticketing office told cllct the team does not print physical tickets.
Currently, the most expensive debut ticket in MLB history is a stub from Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947, which was sold for $480,000 in 2022 to Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. The Robinson debut ticket remains the most expensive debut ticket ever sold in any sport.
Currently, the most expensive piece of Jackson Holliday memorabilia sold March 30, when a 2022 Bowman signed rookie card went for $97,750 at Goldin Auctions.
Of note, Holliday will wear No. 7 for the Orioles — the same number his father wore throughout his career. No. 7 hasn’t been worn by an Oriole since Cal Ripken Sr. donned it while coaching the O’s, and the last player to wear it was his son, Billy Ripken.
MLB Hall-of-Famer and Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. tweeted his support for Holliday on Wednesday, saying the Ripken family is “thrilled” Holliday will be wearing No. 7
Matt Liberman is a video producer and reporter for cllct.com.