Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand-slam ball from Game 1 of the 2024 World Series sold for $1.56 million at SCP Auctions in the early morning hours Sunday.
The sale makes the ball the third-most valuable home run baseball of all time after edging Aaron Judge's American League-record 62nd home run, which fetched $1.5 million in 2022.
Echoing Kirk Gibson’s historic pinch-hit walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Freeman’s grand slam stole the first game of the series from the Yankees on the way to the Dodgers’ World Series title.
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The ball landed in the hands of a 10-year-old fan attending the game with his parents.
“When he hit the ball, we knew it was leaving the park, but we had no idea we were going to catch it,” the fifth-grader told NBC. “The ball bounced on the seat in front of us and rolled on the ground a little bit. Then I got it.”
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The auction came on the heels of the record-breaking sale of Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball, which became the most expensive ball ever sold when it sold for $4.4 million last month.
“Fifty-fifty, could that happen again? Who knows?” SCP Auctions president David Kohler told cllct. “There’s only one person that’s gonna have the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.”
“It might be the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever witnessed,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "and I’ve witnessed some great ones.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.