The starting bid for Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball was set at $1 million by Goldin Auctions on Thursday, a price that will all but certainly climb to a point where it could challenge the priciest baseball ever sold.
Texas Rangers fan Cory Youmans, who caught the homer that set the American League and New York Yankees record at Globe Life Field on Oct. 4, turned down offers of $2 million and $3 million before the auction was announced.
“It seems fair in the sense it gives anyone that is interested and has the means the opportunity to own it,” Youmans told ESPN. “As a fan, I’m curious to see what it’s worth, who buys it and what they do with it.”
The ball will go up for auction on Nov. 29. With Goldin Auctions’ commission factored in, the starting bid will actually be $1.2 million.
The priciest baseball sold to date was Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from the 1998 season at $3.05 million with commission in 1999. Adjusted for inflation, the price would be $5.4 million in today’s dollars.
But that ball has since been valued as low as $250,000.
That’s due to McGwire’s eventual admission to using performance-enhancing drugs and Barry Bonds — who denied knowingly using PEDs, although has been linked to their use — hitting 73 homers in 2001.
