The grand slam ball that came off the bat of Freddie Freeman into the right-field stands at Dodger Stadium in a pivotal 2024 World Series moment has reached new heights.
The historic series-changing ball sold for $1.56 million in an auction Saturday night after hitting the auction block on Dec. 4.
SCP Auctions, based out of Laguna Niguel, put the ball up for sale and received 22 bids from around the world. The auction was extended multiple times and ended nearly three hours after its original end time.
The sale of the grand slam ball makes it the third most expensive baseball, taking the spot of Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62nd home run ball that sold for $1.5 million in 2022.
Freeman, who had been struggling through an ankle injury, smacked the first pitch from Nestor Cortes 413 feet for the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history. The baseball eventually ended up in the hands of 10-year-old Zachary Ruderman, whose family lives in Venice.
Zachary told NBCLA the ball rolled from the seat in front of him to his feet.
“When he hit the ball, we knew it was leaving the park, but we had no idea we were going to catch it.” Zachary said. “The ball bounced on the seat in front of us and rolled on the ground a little bit. Then I got it.”
Zachary’s family had told him he was leaving school early that magical day to get his braces removed. Instead, he ended up being part of what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called “the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed.”
An ecstatic Zachary called it, “The best day of my life.” The family said they’re hoping the ball can be displayed for all fans to see.
“Our family hopes the baseball will be displayed in Dodgers stadium so all Dodgers and baseball fans can view a very special piece of history for the City of Los Angeles,” the Ruderman family said Wednesday in a statement.
The baseball is the second ball connected to the Dodgers to be auctioned this season. The ball hit by Shohei Ohtani that made him the first player in major league history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season sold for nearly $4.4 million to a Taiwanese investment firm and is on display in that country.
It set a record for the sale of any sports ball.