by The baseball from Freddie Freeman’s walk-off World Series grand slam victory sold at auction Saturday night for $1.56 million.
The bid of $1.56 million made the ball the third most expensive baseball of all time, according to SCP Auctions. Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from last season, when Ohtani became the MLB’s first 50-50 player, sold at auction for $4.4 million. Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball in 1998 cost $3.005 million.
Freeman led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series with his 10th-inning home run off Nestor Cortes. The dramatic setback ultimately gave the Dodgers one win in five games.
What made Freeman’s grand slam even more compelling was that the veteran first baseman was dealing with an ankle injury that made such a feat seem unlikely. Instead, the clutch home run on baseball’s biggest stage drew quick comparisons to Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
First, 10-year-old Zachary Ruderman grabbed the Grand Slam ball. As the ball rolled to him, he hit it to his father, Nico, who secured it in a fierce scramble by fans in the right-field pavilion of Dodger Stadium.
“As soon as everyone knew I had the ball, I stood up and passed it [Zac]“said Nico Ruderman in a statement released by SCP Auctions. “I picked him up and tears were streaming down his face.”
The buyer of the Grand Slam ball was not announced.
Freeman’s home run ball is the second of the 2024 World Series, which was auctioned off last week. On Thursday, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge dropped the ball in Game 5, sparking a Dodgers comeback from a 5-0 deficit and sold for $43,510.
Game dirt remains available for fans who want a 2024 World Series souvenir.
