Freeman's World Series walk-off slam ball now up for auction
A father-son duo won the mad scramble for Freddie Freeman's historic walk-off grand slam ball from Game 1 of the World Series, but the ball is now up for grabs -- for the right price, of course.
The ball from the only walk-off grand slam in World Series history is one of the highlights at SCP Auctions’ December Dynasty Auction, which ends on Friday.
Before finding its way to auction, though, the ball plummeted through a sea of fans and landed on the ground in the right-field seats at Dodger Stadium. That gave 10-year-old Zach Ruderman a distinct advantage as fans raced to get their hands on the baseball.
"It was pretty amazing," Zach told MLB Network previously. "It was rolling around the ground and I saw it; I knocked it over to my dad and then he picked it up and handed it to me. It was truly the best moment of my life."
And though many hopeful bidders are now making their push to own the historic piece of memorabilia, there wasn't any battle for the ball on that fateful night.
"Everybody was great," said Zach's father, Nico. "Everybody was just celebrating and jumping around. Everybody wanted to take a picture with Zach. It was just a happy atmosphere out there in right field."
The backstory for the Rudermans makes the whole ordeal all the more special.
Zach was initially supposed to get his braces off that day, but when his dad picked him up early from school to head to the orthodontist, Zach was surprised to learn that his parents had instead bought World Series tickets to watch his Dodgers take on the Yankees.
"They weren't too happy," Nico said of the orthodontist. "But it was worth it in the end."
The Freeman grand slam ball is far from the only baseball relic available in the auction. Among the other marquee items is a Lou Gehrig game-worn Yankees pinstripe jersey from 1937.