Ten-year-old Zachary Ruderman thought he was leaving school early to get his braces removed.
Instead, Ruderman’s parents took him to Dodger Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series, where Freddie Freeman famously (or infamously, depending on who you ask) hit a walk-off grand slam on a pitch from Nestor Cortes in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Dodgers went on to win the series against the Yankees 4-1, with Freeman its MVP.
Ruderman and his father grabbed Freeman’s grand slam ball once it landed in the right-field pavilion. Now, SCP Auctions in Southern California is auctioning off the ball in December.
In October, Goldin auctioned off Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball for a record-setting $4.392 million. SCP said that Ohtani’s auction makes Freeman’s ball “easily worth seven figures.”
Investment firm UC Capital bought Ohtani’s ball and put it on display in Taiwan. The Ruderman family said they hope Freeman’s ball will similarly become available to the public.
“Our family hopes the baseball will be displayed in Dodger Stadium so all Dodgers and baseball fans can view a very special piece of history for the city of Los Angeles,” the family said in a statement.
The auction will run from Dec. 4 to Dec. 14.
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(Top Image: Freddie Freeman: Harry How / Getty Images; Zachary Ruderman: Courtesy of SCP Auctions)
