A sports memorabilia auction is never as exciting as a football game that offered a great deal. But baseball legend Freddie Freeman's crushing grand slam that gave the Dodgers a walkoff victory in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees in October created its own drama.
The ball was sold for $1.56 million on Saturday night by SCP Auctions, but not after a back-and-forth between bidders extended bidding 2½ hours past the original deadline.
The money goes to the family of the 10-year-old boy who drove the ball into the right field bleachers at Dodger Stadium during a wild celebration after Freeman came home with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Dodgers by one. without defeat.
The moment will forever live among the best in Dodgers history, rivaling Kirk Gibson's identical walkoff home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. The memory will always be cherished by Zachary Ruderman and his parents, Nico and Anne. Money will change the life of a Venetian family.
However, it appeared that bidding would not reach seven figures when the highest bid was $800,000 with five minutes left in the week-long auction. But the $850,000 bid triggered a 30-minute extension, which was then reset to zero before the $900,000 bid was entered.
And so on, each extension nearly expired before the next bid was made, up to $1.3 million. The buyer's premium and fees increased the value to $1.56 million.
“It was the opposite,” said David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions. “Sometimes it happens. We are delighted with this result and honored to carry one of the most important pieces of art in World Series history.”
Baseball's record auction price is $4.392 million, set two months ago by Shohei Ohtani's hit at LoanDepot Park in Miami on Sept. 19 to become the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 10 bases. 50 per season. The previous record was $3.05 million paid in 1999 for Mark McGwire's 70th home run from the 1998 season.
How the money from the sale of Ohtani's football will be divided is disputed. Max Matus filed a lawsuit in Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit Court against the man who ended up in possession of the ball, Christian Zacek, his Florida roommate Kelvin Ramirez and Goldin Auctions, who claimed to be the owner of the ball.
There was no such controversy surrounding Freeman's football, which went up directly to Zachary Ruderman, whose favorite player Freeman recognized and who kept score at regular games attended by his family.
“Everybody was standing, nobody was sitting,” Zachary told The Times. “I was standing on the bleacher seat so I could see. A second or two after the crack of the bat, I saw it coming right at us.
“It was definitely a reaction, an instinct.”
Everyone sitting around him was cheering for the Dodger victory, sitting on the field while the team celebrated on the field. No one tried to steal the ball from him.
An excited Zachary Ruderman holds the ball as Dodgers' Freddie Freeman hit a walk slam in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.
(Nico Ruderman)
“Hundreds of people were harassing me,” said Zachary. “Many people wanted to take a picture with me and the ball. It was very difficult.”
The next morning, Zachary left with his mother, Anne, on a business trip. He was wearing a Dodgers cap and T-shirt and a flight attendant asked him if he had watched the flight home.
“Yes,” replied Zachary, “I caught it.”
A flight attendant jumped on the plane's public address system and announced Zachary's great fortune to the other passengers. He stood up from his chair and clapped his hands.
The most expensive MLB item ever sold at auction is Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series jersey, which sold for $24.12 million in August 2024. Yankees No. 1 road jersey. 3 was worn by Ruth when he hit his home run “called a shot” at Wrigley. The field.
The identity of the new owner of Freeman's football has not been disclosed. Zachary Ruderman has had his moment of fame and — now — fortune, and his family can only hope the ball will be shown to Dodgers fans to enjoy and remember.
“It's more attention than my son has ever had,” said Nico Ruderman. “People know him. I mean, literally everywhere we go people stop him and want to take pictures with him. He actually really liked it. It was a fun experience for him.
“It would be great if the ball was shown at Dodger Stadium so the fans could see this special piece of history.”
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