LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — Freddie Freeman’s historic walk-off grand slam ball from Game 1 of the World Series is hitting the auction block.
The Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman came to the plate on a sprained right ankle with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning against the New York Yankees last month. Freeman hit the first pitch from Nestor Cortes 413 feet for the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
“That’s as good as it gets right there,” said Freeman, who was named World Series MVP.
The Dodgers won the game 6-3 and went on to claim the franchise’s eighth World Series championship in five games.
“It might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “and I’ve witnessed some great ones.”
The ball landed in the right-field pavilion, where it was corralled by 10-year-old Zachary Ruderman, who lives in the Venice section of Los Angeles. The ball rolled from the seat in front of him to his feet and he batted it to his father, Nico, who jumped on it.
The fifth-grader had been told he was leaving school early that day to get his braces removed. Instead, his parents took him to Dodger Stadium.
“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.
It’s the second ball connected to the Dodgers to be auctioned this season. The ball hit by Freeman’s teammate, 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.
SCP Auctions is running the sale that includes Freeman’s ball from Dec. 4-14.
Company president David Kohler said he believes the ball is “easily worth seven figures.”
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