The ball launched from the bat of Freddie Freeman into the right-field stands at Dodger Stadium in a pivotal 2024 World Series moment hit the auction block on Wednesday.
Bids for the walk-off grand slam ball that gave the Dodgers a 6-3 victory in Game 1, propelling the team to its eighth World Series championship and Freeman to series MVP, will be taken by SCP Auctions through Dec. 14. Company president David Kohler said he believes the ball is “easily worth seven figures.”
Bidding was set to open at 10 a.m. PT Wednesday.
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Freeman, who had been struggling through an ankle injured, 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.
