Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Angels 2018 Topps Chrome Baseball Orange Refractor Red Jersey Variation Rookie 12/25 #150 PSA 10 | Rookie Card | MBA Gold Diamond

Shohei Ohtani has put together yet another historic season. Coming off the heels of the first ever 50-50 season in Major League Baseball history, he hasn't skipped a beat. His 2025 campaign has been full of spectacular moments. In the second game of the MLB World Tour Tokyo Series on March 19 against the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani brought fans to their feet as he lifted a 2-2 offering from Cubs relief pitcher Nate Pearson to right-center field for his first home run of the season.

After having not pitched for two years, as he recovered from the second Tommy John surgery of his career, Ohtani made his Dodgers pitching debut as he returned to the mound on June 16. Despite only pitching for one inning, his stuff was electric. All four pitch types that he threw were noticeably faster when compared to velocity rates of the same pitches thrown during the 2023 season. Most would expect for a dip in velocity with a pitcher coming off of surgery. That was not the case for Ohtani. 

On August 6 at Dodgers Stadium, Ohtani launched a 440-foot home run to left-center field off St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore. It was not just any home run though, it was Shoehi’s 1000th career MLB hit. With this, he became only the third Japanese-born player to accomplish the feat, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui. 

Sticking with the theme of the long ball, Ohtani also became the fastest to 20, 30, and 40 home runs in Dodgers team history in a single season.  

At the time of cataloging, the Dodgers are currently in first place in the National West Division with a record of 81-64. All signs are pointing to the team making a serious run for the World Series as they look to defend their 2024 title. 

At the time of cataloging, the two-way superstar is batting .280 with 48 home runs, 91 runs batted in, 129 runs scored, and 18 steals. He currently sports a 3.75 earned run average and has struck out 49 hitters in 36 innings pitched. Look for Ohtani to be fully stretched and ready to pitch to his typical duration come October. 

Unsurprisingly, he is the current betting odds favorite to be named National League Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year. It would be his fourth time winning the prestigious award, and a fourth MVP award would separate him from the three-time winners club and move him into a league of his own, behind only Barry Bonds with seven. 

2018 Topps Chrome Baseball released on August 1, 2018 and who better to feature on the cover than perhaps the biggest international sports signing in history, Shohei Ohtani? Later that fall, the product received a Sapphire Edition release, a version that has since become a staple of most Topps Chrome releases. In September 2024, Sotheby’s sold the Sapphire Superfractor auto for a then record sum of $336,000. 

2018 Topps Chrome Baseball was released in three formats: Retail, Hobby, and Sapphire. Retail products included Value Rack Packs, Blaster Boxes, and Monster Boxes, while Hobby products consisted of Hobby Boxes and Jumbo HTA Boxes and Sapphire was its own standalone configuration, each of which contained highly sought after Topps Chrome rookie cards of the global superstar.

This card commemorates Shohei’s 2018 season, his first stateside after five years with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan’s NPB, in what many view as Topps’ signature product. At just 23 years old, Shohei was nothing short of transcendent in his maiden campaign as he hit and pitched his way to being named the American League Rookie of the Year. On the mound, Ohtani’s tricky splitter drove him to an impressive 3.31 ERA while he slugged 22 homers. Throughout the season, the name he invoked most as a flame throwing slugger was that of Babe Ruth, but now seven years on there is no one who is truly in Ohtani’s league.

Orange refractors were exclusive to hobby boxes, and the odds of pulling an orange refractor variation card, of which this card is an example, were 1:6,735 packs. With each Hobby box containing 24 packs, that made any variation orange refractor an exceptionally tough pull. On top of that, the variation checklist includes 25 subjects, making it even more difficult to land a Shohei Ohtani.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Gem Mint condition, receiving a grade of 10 from Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA). It is among the highest condition copies of the card ever certified. 

In addition to its PSA 10 designation, the card offers another attestation to its impeccable quality: the MBA Gold Diamond. Reserved for only the top 5% of quality within an assigned grade, the MBA Gold Diamond highlights cards that are worthy of technical grade increases of 0.5 or more in the opinion of MBA. At the time of cataloging, this is one of only two examples to receive the prestigious MBA Gold Diamond certification. The "12/25" stamp on the card signifies its place in the limited print run.

The PSA certificate number for this card is: 63135236.

This card has also been assessed by Mike Baker Authenticated (MBA) and been awarded with an MBA Gold Diamond. The card is searchable on the MBA website under the PSA certificate number.

Going Deeper - Shohei Ohtani

Facing Trout

Already a widely known celebrity in Japan, Shohei Ohtani became a full-blown national treasure through the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

While his MVP-level exploits at the plate and on the mound in MLB had established his reputation on the field, he had relatively little to show in terms of major team hardware outside Japan’s top league, NPB. In the lead up to the 2023 WBC, likely the most-hyped international baseball tournament ever, it was clear that Ohtani would be in the center of spotlight. Of course, he lived up to the billing.

At the plate, Shohei stood atop the tournament in hits, runs, and walks while also turning around and leading all pitchers in innings pitched, carrying a razor thin 1.86 ERA over 9.2 innings. Alongside current and soon-to-be MLB stars such as Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki, Samurai Japan mowed down their group winning all four games by a combined margin of 38-8. After defeating Italy and Mexico in the first two rounds of the knockout stage, including Ohtani scoring the tying run on a come-from-behind walk-off double in the semis, a date with destiny was set with a championship matchup against the Americans.

A titanic duel, the title bout lived up to the billing as both teams took their shots. Each side mustered a pair of solo home runs while the headliners, Ohtani and then-Angels teammate and future inner circle Hall of Famer Mike Trout, contributed with hits of their own. Entering the 9th inning, the game was still up for grabs as Team USA came to the plate for the final time.

Heading into the game, despite Ohtani being listed as a DH, the plan always was that any save situation would result in the ball being handed to Shohei. What was not in the plan however, was for Trout to be due up third. Despite walking the first batter he faced, Ohtani locked in and quickly got a double play ball from Mookie Betts setting up one of the most dramatic plate appearances in baseball history.

As Trout strode into the box and Ohtani circled the mound, the exuberant crowd in Miami rose to their feet. Despite never facing off before in a game, fans and broadcasters knew that they were witnessing an all-time moment. It was, as simply as announcer Joe Davis put it, “the best against the best.”

After Trout took the first pitch, a low slider, for ball one Ohtani adjusted his approach and began to attack. In four consecutive pitches, Ohtani hit 100 miles per hour on his fastball topping out at a blazing 102 and coaxing two dramatic whiffs from one of the greatest hitters of all time. With the count full, and Trout reeling, Ohtani pulled the string on an immaculate sweeper that broke just beyond the bat. Tossing his glove and hat into the crowd in triumph, Ohtani was mobbed by his euphoric Japanese teammates while the stunned American team looked on from the bench. 

Fittingly, for someone who had already ensured a considerable measure of sporting immortality, he did this all in what might be the most watched baseball game in history.