It’s well known by now that Jacob Misiorowski is in the midst of one of the greatest stretches by a starting pitcher in baseball history. It’s also pretty well known that “The Miz” loves Pokémon … a lot.
Those two things came together Friday night, as Misiorowski dealt a one-hit “Maddux” against the Phillies with his fastball blazing at 104.5 mph. Afterward, a fan presented the right-hander with a gift that he may never forget.
The fan made it onto the field to present Misiorowski with an oversized, custom-made Pokémon card. But instead of Misiorowski’s favorite ‘Mon (Lugia) it was a new design, named after The Miz himself.
The card art depicts Misiorowski -- who is 6-foot-7 and 201 pounds -- as an electric-type giraffe, releasing a blazing pitch in full Brewers uniform with lightning strikes around the diamond. The “baseball” is half Poké ball, half baseball.
As for The Miz’s signature moves, a Four-Seam Fastball can do 103 damage, which “leaves the opponent stunned due to the sheer velocity of the ball.” He can also attack with a Slider for 94 damage. The “deceptive projectile mixes speed and illusion, creating chaos.”
Sounds just like Misiorowski’s real-life repertoire, eh?.
This card may not be legalized for official Pokémon Trading Card Game usage anytime soon -- and it won’t fit in Misiorowski’s epic card-displaying glove -- but we’re sure it has landed somewhere in his extensive collection.
The fan brought two copies of the card, one for Misiorowski to keep and one for the 24-year-old to sign and send back with the artist. Thus, both parties walked away with quite a memory after making and witnessing history at the ballpark.