This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2019
He's been compared to Mickey Mantle, and if you peruse his body of work to this point, it's not hard to understand why. Mike Trout didn't enter professional baseball with the fanfare of some other greats, selected #25 overall in the first round of the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, but his .341 batting average in two minor league seasons probably led to some finger-pointing in the executive offices of the teams that had the opportunity to snag him before the Angels, including six squads whose first-round pick have yet to get a moment of major league time. Now in his 9th season, Trout has led the American League in runs scored four times, RBI once, stolen bases once, walks three times, was selected as the 2011 Rookie of the Year and won two AL MVP Awards while finishing no lower than 4th in the voting in each of his seven full seasons. Trout's rookie cards have been skyrocketing each year and the featured example is one of his most prized pasteboards. Though many consider his cards from 2011, his first appearance with the Angels, to be "rookie" issues, there's no denying that his limited edition examples from his pre-rookie days of 2009 to be the grand prize of the Trout library, and the featured card ranks among his most coveted. Only 50 examples of the Gold Refractor variety were produced (this one is numbered #04/50) and this card comes back from the PSA grading headquarters at a very impressive MINT 9, sporting a flawless blue marker signature that has earned a grade of GEM MINT 10. Whomever initially pulled this unbelievable gem from a pack, whether when it was first introduced in 2009 or at some point later, knew they had hit the jackpot and immediately housed it in a protective case, preserving it as one of the most prized baseball cards of the 21st century. Perhaps it's fitting that the card came into existence during the centennial anniversary of the T206 Honus Wagner card as it may hold the same status of its century as we steam towards the next millennial. With career numbers that already put him on the verge of a Hall of Fame caliber career and currently on a pace that should easily have him entering the 500 home run club or higher among his other pursuits of various offensive records, the investment potential of this extremely rare Mike Trout card is limitless as evidenced by how much it has already appreciated over the past few years. Don't find yourself in the same position as those teams that passed on Trout in the 2009 draft, lamenting about what might have been had you pulled the trigger and made the right decision to go for it. Here's the opportunity, take full advantage of it!