NEW YORK — It's a whole lot of money for some baseballs.
Aaron Judge is on the brink of achieving history as he is one home run shy of tying Roger Maris’ American League and Yankees home run record of 61. With 13 games to go, the slugger is on pace to finish the season with 65 homers.
A lucky fan who catches Judge’s 62nd home run could land themselves a nice payday worth at least $500,000, according to SCP Auctions President David Kohler.
Kohler added that Judge’s final home run ball of the season after surpassing Maris’ milestone, which would be the new record, could be worth upwards of $1 million.
“It’s based on other sales we’ve made in the past,” Kohler said when asked how his company came up with estimates for Judge’s home run balls. “We’ve handled a lot of home run balls over the years.”
The California-based auction house, which has been in business for over 40 years, sold Barry Bond’s record 756th home run ball for $752,467 in 2007. Also, the auction house sold Alex Rodriguez’s 600th home run ball $97,710.
Kohler, who founded the company, said Judge’s clean history adds to the value of the home runs.
“The Yankees are beloved,” Kohler said. “Aaron Judge is beloved. There’s no negativity here like the steroid era in the past”.
None of Judge’s home run balls have made it over to SCP Auctions.
The 60th home run caught by a Yankees’ fan was returned to Judge Tuesday night. Yankee Stadium security staff approached the fan, who agreed to return the ball after the walk-off victory. The fan received signed baseballs from Judge and a signed bat. The All-Star also took a photo with the fan and his friends.
Roger Maris’ record 61st home run ball was sold for $5,000 after Maris told the lucky fan to sell the ball.
“Somebody will pay you a lot of money for the ball,” Maris told the fan six decades ago. "He’ll keep it for a couple of days and then give it to me.”
