Freddie Freeman’s historic grand slam ball sold for $1.56 million, marking a significant moment in sports memorabilia history.
Los Angeles: So, you won’t believe what just happened! The ball from Freddie Freeman’s epic walk-off grand slam in the World Series sold for a whopping $1.56 million at auction. Can you imagine that?
This makes it the third-most expensive game-used baseball ever! Just to give you some context, Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball went for $4.4 million, and Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from ’98 sold for over $3 million. Crazy, right?
Freeman’s grand slam helped the Dodgers beat the Yankees 6-3 in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. It was a nail-biter, especially since he hit it in the 10th inning off Nestor Cortes. That moment really set the tone for the Dodgers, who ended up winning the series in five games.
What makes this even cooler is that Freeman was dealing with an ankle injury. It seemed like he might not even play, but he totally came through, reminding everyone of Kirk Gibson’s famous walk-off in ’88. Talk about clutch!
The ball was actually caught by a 10-year-old named Zachary Ruderman. As it rolled to him, he batted it to his dad, Nico, who managed to grab it while fans were scrambling all around. How sweet is that?
Nico said he picked up Zachary and saw tears streaming down his face. That’s a memory they’ll never forget! The identity of the buyer remains a mystery, though.
Interestingly, this grand slam ball is the second one from the 2024 World Series to hit the auction block this week. Just a few days ago, Aaron Judge’s ball from Game 5 sold for over $43,000. What a week for baseball memorabilia!