Freeman’s World Series Game 1 winner sold for the third-highest price of any baseball. Plus notes on Shohei Ohtani running the bases, and the Dodgers signing pitcher Sam Carlson to a minor league deal.
The baseball Freddie Freeman hit for the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history sold at auction for $1.56 million on Saturday night SCP Auctions in Orange County.
The sale price made this the third-most expensive baseball in history. Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball, which sold for $4.392 million after auction fees back in October. The No. 2 ball is Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998, which sold for $3.005 million, per Brooks Peck at The Athletic.
The ball was retrieved in the stands at Dodger Stadium on October 25 by 10-year-old Dodgers fan Zachary Ruderman. “When the ball rolled from the seat in front of Zachary to the ground at his feet, he batted it to his dad, Nico, who jumped on it ahead of several other fans scrambling after it,” the SCP Auctions press release said.
The identity of the seller was not disclosed.
“Our family hopes the baseball will be displayed in Dodger Stadium so all Dodgers and baseball fans can view a very special piece of history for the city of Los Angeles,” the Ruderman family said in a statement.
The fine folks at Baseball Savant have added a few statistics regarding baserunning, many of which highlight just how incredible Shohei Ohtani was on the bases in 2024.
Ohtani was second in overall baserunning runs, which is defined by Baseball Savant as “designed to express the overall value of a baserunner, measured in runs created (or lost) via stealing bases and taking extra bases on the basepaths.”
2024’s best all-around baserunner, per new Statcast metrics up today on Baseball Savant, which combine SB/CS and extra bases taken:
Corbin Carroll: +12 Baserunning Run Value
David Adler at MLB.com chronicled some other noteworthy stats using the leaderboard, including that Ohtani was the most valuable base stealer, thanks to only getting caught stealing four times plus one pickoff to go with his 59 steals.
The Dodgers signed pitcher Sam Carlson to a minor league contract, the pitcher announced on Twitter on Friday.
The 26-year-old right-hander drafted in the second round out of high school in 2017 by the Mariners, then had Tommy John surgery in July 2018 that wiped out two seasons.
Last year Carlson was a non-roster invitee in Brewers spring training camp on a minor league deal, despite having not pitched above High-A to that point. He posted a 4.25 ERA in 44 games for Double-A Biloxi last season with 51 strikeouts, a 23.5-percent strikeout rate and 19 walks in 48⅔ innings.
First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to the entire @Brewers organization for everything over the past year. The memories and relationships I built there will stay with me forever. That said, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve signed with the @Dodgers! pic.twitter.com/1tshyHoAUo
— Sam Carlson (@samcarlson33) December 13, 2024
Sam Carlson’s fastball has a unique characteristic called Vertical Approach Angle, which is the angle at which a pitch approaches home plate.
In Carlson’s visit to HQ at the start of his offseason, his VAA stood out as an area where he can really set himself apart. … pic.twitter.com/LpulzWmSqm— Tread Athletics (@TreadHQ) November 10, 2024