Dr. Anthony Fauci baseball card becomes best-selling card in Topps history

WASHINGTON (SBG) – The nation's top infectious disease expert is hitting it out of the park – well, that's the case for his baseball card.

Dr. Anthony Faucithrew the first pitchat the Washington Nationals' season opener against the New York Yankees last week, the first official game of the baseball season, while sporting a mask on the mound.

There was even a limited edition baseball card made to commemorate the event.

While Fauci's pitching skills may not be top notch (he himself described the pitch as "really funny"), his popularity proved to be, as Topps said Fauci's card set an all-time print record for the company, selling over 51,000 copies after it hit the site. ToppsNow cards are available for only 24 hours.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has skyrocketed in popularity in recent months amid the coronavirus pandemic. He's become the government's most visible face in the fight against COVID-19.

The baseball card isn't the first time merchandise has featured Fauci; a New York bakery in Marchmade pastries with his face on them, while theNational Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in April announced plans to make him into a bobblehead.