The ball dropped by Aaron Judge in centerfield of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, the one that opened the door for the Los Angeles Dodgers to come back down 5-0 and eventually clinch their eighth title, could be yours via MLB’s auction site.
The game-used ball is available to collectors with bidding running through the evening of Dec. 12. As of Wednesday afternoon, the price is nearing $13,000 for this unique piece of baseball memorabilia.
In the top of the fifth inning of Game 5 with the Yankees up 5-0, but down 3-1 in the series, Tommy Edman sent a fly ball towards centerfield. What was expected to be a routine fly out turned into a game-changing error by Judge.
The first error committed all season by Judge allowed Kiké Hernández to slide in safe to second base and give the Dodgers two runners on with no outs against Gerrit Cole.
Following a throwing error by Anthony Volpe and two strikeouts, Mookie Betts beat out an infield hit that got the Dodgers on the board after Cole failed to cover first base on a grounder to Anthony Rizzo. A Freddie Freeman two-run single and a Teoscar Hernández two-run double would even the score at five.
The Dodgers would grab the lead for good in the eight inning and win 7-6.
It’s been a big year for Dodgers-related balls in the memorabilia world.
The ball hit by Shohei Ohtani for his 50th home run of the season sold for $4.4 million at auction in October. While not as pricey as Ohtani’s, the ball Freddie Freeman hit during his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series is currently at $550,000 with bidding ending on Saturday.
