You have a chance at owning the home run ball if you have nine figures of disposable income. The ball is going to be auctioned by the person who caught it. The ball is going to be sold through Goldin Auction House.
It's a logical move. It was done with Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire's home runs. Youmans has been offered a lot of money for the ball.
Passan was told that Youman had an offer for $3 million. The auction people don't really commit to a number, but they said it could be significantly higher based on New York and how crazy it could get at an auction.
Yankees fans can be rambunctious, but turning down $3 million on the spot is the most important thing. Youmans had an inside straight draw and an ace on the board after hitting his third king. Judge didn't break an MLB record while he was at Yankee Stadium. He set the American League single-season home run record when he hit his home run.
The highest price ever paid for a ball at an auction was for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball. It is reasonable to expect that the Judge ball could sell for more than that, since standard inflation is included.
McGwire broke a record. The all-time single-season home run record was set when the MLB record was 70. The home-run chase of 1998 could be argued to be baseball's peak season. It became one of the biggest American sports stories in years after the strike.
Ken Goldin, of the same Goldin Auction house that will be auctioning off Judge's home-run ball for Youmans, said that McGwire's ball is worth about $250,000. The decline in value was caused by the loss of the record to Bonds three years after setting it. That could explain why Barry Bonds' final home run ball didn't sell for $300,000.
Judge has never been linked to the use of performance enhancing drugs, but that era clouded the game for some. Many people don't care about the way Americans played baseball in 1998 because they don't bother with that part of baseball history.
The pinstripes are being pushed to the middle of the table. The magnitude of that franchise and Judge being a clean player will net him a figure beyond his wildest dreams.
I think it will work out for the man.