The same kind of handkerchief used by a star baseball pitcher Yuki Saito, whose team recently won Japan's national high school baseball summer championship, was sold more than 10 times than its original price on Internet auction sites, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Tuesday.

The kind of towel handkerchief which Saito used to wipe his face during the game, is selling at prices over 5,000 yen (about 43 U.S. dollars). Even used ones of the same make have been auctioned at prices between 3,000 yen (about 26 dollars) to 5,000 yen, it said.

Saito led Tokyo's Waseda Jitsugyo to its first national high school baseball championship title on Aug. 21. He was dubbed the "handkerchief prince" by female fans who admired his dashing style and the way he wiped his face with a handkerchief.

The production of the handkerchief has been discontinued. However, noting its popularity, the Osaka-based maker is considering to market the product again.

Source: Xinhua