Jacob Misiorowski went to Brew Town Trading Co. in Greenfield on his off day. He ended up pulling his own card in a less-than-one-in-a-million chance.
If you only heard about Jacob Misiorowski's reaction, you'd be forgiven for thinking he was probably celebrating a strikeout of another poor soul with his 102-mph fastball or 97-mph slider.
After all, he hopped back, threw his right arm in the air and cheered, just like he's done with some of the bigger strikeouts in his young career.
But nope, the Milwaukee Brewers phenom pitcher wasn't on the mound. He was in a card shop — Brew Town Trading Co.. at 4285 S. 76th St. in Greenfield, on July 25. Instead of a glove in his left hand, he had a pack of 2022 Bowman Draft cards.
And his reaction? He had just pulled his very own "orange parallel" limited-edition card from the year he got drafted— one of only 25 such cards in the world.
You'd also be forgiven for not totally understanding the gravity of the pull — just how infinitesimally small the chances are of that happening.
As Brewtown Trading assistant manager Tommy Rhyner — who was with Misiorowski to witness it — explained, it was exceptional. Like seeing a triple rainbow. Or finding an entire beach of whole sand dollars. Forget a four-leaf clover, even a five-leaf clover — it was far closer to a six-leaf clover.
"I think he has a better chance of getting struck by lightning than doing that again, and not only getting struck by lightning, while (also) holding the winning lottery ticket in the ocean with sharks around him and about to attack," Rhyner said.
"You know all those things where you hear millions to one, right? Put all four or five together and that's right around there."
Is Misiorowski's reaction starting to make more sense?
"He had a true, genuine reaction," Rhyner said. "That's the card that he was looking for, and then to have it serial numbered?"
Misiorowski got the card at the end of the third Bowman pack he was opening.
He had been invited to the store to open Pokémon packs — something he has enough interest in that he got a Lugia Pokémon embroidered on his All-Star Game suit jacket. After a few of those, he found the Bowman box from his draft class and wanted to open some.
Coincidentally, Rhyner and a couple of other employees were talking with Misiorowski about how cool it is when athletes pull their own cards. A couple minutes later, the Brewers starter got to experience that feeling for himself.
It was reciprocated by Rhyner, who called it "probably my best hobby moment in of itself."
While he's seen other athletes come to the store — including four Miami Marlins pitchers who came by only minutes before Misiorowski showed up — no one has been as lucky as Milwaukee's newest sports hero.
Before Rhyner started at the store, he said other athletes had pulled their own cards, but the rarity of the one Misiorowski got puts it in a league of its own.
"Just happened that Miz had to hit that big of a card is what made this so big," he said. "We've had athletes pull their own cards. But when it's just a base card, it's not quite as exciting, but still memorable."
No one would have blamed Misiorowski for wanting to keep the card for himself. But instead, he signed it and donated it to the shop, a decision that has led to an increase in customers.
"This Saturday (one day after the card was pulled)," Rhyner said, "I probably had 12 to 15 people stop in just to see the card."
Rather than sell it, despite very likely being able to make thousands of dollars, Brew Town Trading is building a special shadow box with custom framing to have on display.
When Misiorowski left the store after a little over a half-hour, Rhyner, a big Brewers fan who's going to the all-star's biggest start to date — July 28 against the Chicago Cubs — gave him a parting message:
"Make sure you shove the ball down their throat."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski pulls his own rare baseball card from pack
Category: Baseball
