Paul Skenes signs copy of 'Crime and Punishment' for fan on flight
Since his time at LSU, Paul Skenes has been a rising star in baseball. Following a rookie season where he won the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award, he’s only getting more important to fans, especially Pittsburgh Pirates fans. So important, that they don’t really care what he signs when they meet him.
One Pirates fan, Bacon Burt on Twitter/X, shared a story with from one of his friends meeting Skenes on a plane. In the story, the fan was excited to meet him and was looking to get an autograph from the star pitcher. The only problem was that he only had the book he was reading, Crime and Punishment, on him at the time to sign.
“A friend of mine met Paul Skenes on a flight and didn’t have anything for him to sign so he signed his copy of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment,” they wrote.
In the text exchange between friends, it’s explained that the two were sharing a flight and Skenes took a photo with the fan to go along with signing the autograph. The fan also jokingly admits to having “accosted” him for the meeting, though he did also note how nice Skenes was to him.
Luckily, Paul Skenes was cool about the slightly awkward choice in autograph. Then again, it was probably fun to change things up after signing so many baseballs and cards for fans through the years.
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Possible other options that the fan could have found on a plane to use include the napkin that flight attendants give out with drinks and the safety instructions in the seatback. Comparing those options, the book is probably the most solid option.
It’s unknown if or how much of Crime and Punishment Paul Skenes has read himself or if this little interaction with a fan is going to encourage him to return to the 527-page Russian masterpiece. Then again, he also might prefer Leo Tolstoy to Fyodor Dostoevsky.
2024 was an eventful season for Paul Skenes. He made his MLB debut, went to his first All-Star Game, and then won the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award. He did that on the back of a season where he pitched 133 innings in 23 games and had an ERA of 1.96 on an 11-3 record. He struck out 170 batters, walked just 35 batters, and had a WHIP of 0.947.
Assuming that Paul Skenes is able to keep that kind of trajectory for his career going, he’s only going to continue to grow popular as a player. That means getting a larger fanbase and, presumably, being asked for more and more autographs. So, we can only hope he gets a few more strange requests like this one.