Three historic home run balls were sold at auction this week for a combined total over $500,000.
SCP Auctions of Laguna Niguel sold the ball Shohei Ohtani hit for the second of his three home runs in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium for a top bid of $270,000.
The ball MIguel Rojas hit into the seats for the game-tying home run in the ninth inning of World Series Game 7 at Rogers Centre went for $156,000 and the ball Will Smith hit for the game-winning home run in the 11th inning went for $168,000.
Rojas’ homer was the first in World Series history to tie a Game 7 in the ninth inning or later. Smith’s 11th-inning home run was the first extra-inning home run in a winner-take-all World Series game.
A father and son – John and Matthew Bains – claimed to have caught both balls while sitting in the front row in the left-field corner at Rogers Centre. The balls were authenticated by SCP Auctions chief operations officer Mike Keys.
In addition, the bat Ohtani used to hit five of his home runs during the 2024 season was sold for a top bid of $300,000. Another bat Ohtani used during his first MVP season, 2021, with the Angels was sold for $45,000.