Pete Crow-Armstrong’s historic season just produced another staggering number, this time away from the baseball field.
The Chicago Cubs star’s one-of-one 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB Debut Patch Autograph sold for $1.098 million at Goldin.
The PSA Gem Mint 10 card, which also received a PSA 10 autograph grade, features the MLB Debut patch from Crow-Armstrong’s first major-league game on September 11, 2023.
It is a massive sale by itself.
The timing makes it even more striking.
Crow-Armstrong just completed a historic 40-home run, 40-stolen base season and helped Chicago reach the postseason. Now, only days later, his signature rookie card has approached the MLB Debut Patch record while Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs enter an elimination game against the San Diego Padres.
PCA’s 2024 rookie salary: $740,000.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Card Sells for $1.098 Million
Crow-Armstrong’s card was one of the most significant MLB Debut Patch cards to reach the market since Paul Skenes’ one-of-one sold in 2025.
Goldin listed the card as Crow-Armstrong’s 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB Debut Patch Autograph 1/1, graded PSA Gem Mint 10 with a PSA/DNA Gem Mint 10 autograph grade.
The $1.098 million result also produced a remarkable comparison highlighted by Rovell.
Crow-Armstrong earned roughly $740,000 during the 2024 season, meaning a collector just paid considerably more for his one-of-one rookie card than the Cubs paid Crow-Armstrong to play an entire major-league season.
But the final auction price may be even more notable for what it narrowly failed to accomplish.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Falls $12,000 Short of Paul Skenes Record
Crow-Armstrong came extraordinarily close to taking down the benchmark for MLB Debut Patch cards.
Skenes’ one-of-one 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB Debut Patch Autograph sold for $1.11 million through Fanatics Collect in March 2025. The price included the buyer’s premium and established the Skenes card as the highest-selling MLB Debut Patch at the time.
Crow-Armstrong finished at $1.098 million.
The difference?
Just $12,000.
That puts Crow-Armstrong and Skenes in remarkably similar territory despite playing dramatically different positions and arriving in the majors with different levels of prospect hype.
Skenes was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft and won National League Rookie of the Year in his first season. His Debut Patch became a national story even before it surfaced, with the Pittsburgh Pirates famously offering the young collector who pulled it a package that included 30 years of season tickets.
Crow-Armstrong’s card reached seven figures after a different catalyst: one of the greatest individual seasons ever produced by a Cubs player.
Pete Crow-Armstrong Made Cubs History Before $1.1 Million Sale
The auction could hardly have closed at a better moment for Crow-Armstrong’s hobby profile.
On September 24, Crow-Armstrong stole his 40th base of the season, joining the exclusive 40-40 club after already reaching 45 home runs.
He became just the seventh player in MLB history to record at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases in the same season. He also became the first Cubs player to accomplish the feat.
And he did it on the same night Chicago clinched an NL Wild Card berth with a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.
Crow-Armstrong entered the postseason hitting .280 with 45 home runs and 107 RBIs while appearing in all 159 Cubs games through the clinching victory.
That transformed the timing of the Goldin auction.
Collectors were not merely bidding on the Debut Patch of a promising young Cubs player.
They were bidding on the Debut Patch of a 24-year-old who had just completed the first 40-40 season in franchise history.
Now the attention shifts back to what Crow-Armstrong can do on the field.
Cubs Face Elimination Against Padres After 8-0 Loss
Chicago enters Game 2 of its Wild Card Series against San Diego needing a victory to keep its season alive.
The Padres routed the Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 on September 29.
San Diego starter Michael King took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and ultimately allowed only one hit over seven scoreless frames while striking out eight. Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts each homered for the Padres.
The Cubs will send Kevin Gausman to the mound for Game 2 opposite Nick Pivetta
There is at least one reason for optimism surrounding Crow-Armstrong specifically.
Chicago dominated San Diego during the regular season, winning five of six games and outscoring the Padres 55-28.
Crow-Armstrong was one of the Cubs’ biggest problems for San Diego.
He hit .364 with four home runs in the six regular-season meetings.
Chicago will need another performance like that now.
Crow-Armstrong has already produced one of the defining baseball-card sales of 2026 and one of the most statistically significant seasons in Cubs history.
Whether his week is remembered primarily for a $1.098 million card sale or for what happens in October now depends on what Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs do next.
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Card Sells for $1.1 Million Before Cubs Elimination Game