Aaron Judge’s 62-home run season for the Yankees helped him land the biggest contract awarded to a player this offseason, but baseball from that final home run was somewhat of a disappointment at auction.
Caught by a spectator at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on October 4, the ball was predicted by Goldin Auctions to set a record by selling for more than $3 million. Instead, it sold for $1.5 million to an anonymous bidder who was described in a statement from the auction house on Sunday as a “prominent Midwestern businessman and collector.”
In a statement released by Goldin, Cory Youmans, the seller of the ball, repeatedly called the buyer “Joe.”
Due to the lower-than-expected sale price, the record for a ball used for the game at public auction will continue to be the $3,005,000 fetched by the ball from Mark McGwire’s record-breaking 70th home run of the season. 1998.
This sale took place shortly before the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs became public knowledge. McGwire later admitted to using steroids. The fallout from connections to performance-enhancing drugs cost Barry Bonds a chance to eclipse McGwire’s auction record despite surpassing McGwire’s single-season record hitting 73 homers in 2001 and Hank’s career-high Aaron’s 755. Bonds’ 73rd home run originally sold for $450,000, and his 756th home run went for $752,467. (No. 756 was eventually given to the Baseball Hall of Fame after fashion designer Marc Ecko starred it.)
Judge, who has never been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, was praised by many, including Roger Maris’ family, for breaking the American League single-season record without controversy.
“The fact that this is the second highest total ever paid for a baseball is a testament to the respect fans and collectors have for Aaron,” Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, said in a statement. . “It’s the magic of sport – that ball didn’t just change Aaron’s life, it also changed the life of the fan who was in the stadium that night.”
While the sale price was a huge payday for Youmans, it fetched far less than people around him had suggested.
In an interview with ESPN which was published on November 17, Dave Baron, an attorney for Youmans, said, “We already had a $3 million offer. This was after JP Cohen, the chairman of Memory Lane, a collectibles dealer, told The Associated Press in October that he had offered Youmans $2 million for the ball, describing the offer as “way above fair”.
Enthusiasm for the judge, combined with statements like that, led to exorbitant expectations from the auction house.
“The ball has the potential to become the most expensive baseball ever sold,” Goldin said in a phone interview with The New York Times shortly before the auction went live on the company’s website. society. “Over three million would be my estimate.”
Instead, Youmans, who is a financial adviser for Fisher Investments in Dallas, got half in the auction, which had six registered bids, the final of which was $1.25 million. Combined with a $250,000 buyer’s premium, this resulted in the final price. Youmans did not comment on the sale price in its statement.
“As this chapter draws to a close and I think about catching home run No. 62, I will always remember the kindness of the fans around me on that exciting night in Arlington,” he said. he declares. “It was the epitome of how sport brings people together, and I will cherish that memory forever.”
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