Before the ball was hit, I’m sure the 3B coach advised him of the number of outs and that there was a force play at home. Why he didn’t ask him to scooch up the line by a foot or two is beyond me. The only risk is getting doubled off at third on a lineout to 3B.
It turns out that that guy (or someone else who did the same thing) actually kept the ball and threw out a decoy. He’s going to sell it through an auction house.
What a bizarre thing to do. If you’re gonna keep the ball – I would – own the gesture. If some fellow fan criticizes it I’d tell them, “Gimme five grand and I’ll toss it back.”
Bringing a decoy ball is pretty common in Chicago Cubs seats. Lots of pressure from the crowd to throw away a payday they don’t have a claim to.
Is a regular season HR ball worth that much?
Depends on who hit it. On MLB Auctions, Cal Raleigh’s 51st HR is currently going for more than $10k. Average player HR balls seem to go for a couple hundred. There’s an Aaron Judge single currently at $500. Once a year or so I’ll get a spreadsheet from the Royals listing all their authenticated balls. They range from $35 to several hundred, depending on the type of hit and who hit or pitched it.
They could be somewhat valuable if there’s something significant I suppose, but not to the level of a WS ball. WS balls have a serial number on them. Do all of the jillions of regular season balls?
Some years ago DesertRoomie were at an Arizona Fall League game and about the sixth inning a guy hit a home run that rolled to a stop on the left field embankment. She’d always wanted a game-played ball and with only about 500 in attendance, saw her chance and trotted out to retrieve it.
She figured an autograph would be nice and, keeping score, I was able to tell her who it was. At the end of the game she talked with the player at the dugout and returned with signed batting gloves instead of the ball. “He was really interested in that ball,” she said. I looked up the stats and sure enough, it was his first AFL home run and meant a hundred times more to him than her.
The Ohtani strikeout ball sold yesterday for $175k. That’s a pretty good chunk of change. I wonder who bought it - Keith Olbermann and Getty Lee are both big ball hounds.
Geddy Lee.
Thanks.
Though I’m guessing he’s not super excited to buy a piece of Dodgers memorabilia from that World Series…
Yes, and also, the risk of the batter hitting a ball straight to Muncy at 3B was always very low to begin with anyway. Varsho almost never hit in that direction. And Muncy was so far off the bag that Kiner-Falefa could totally have taken 1-2 more steps towards home and get back to the bag in time to beat Muncy if there were a line drive.
And yet, even for all that, if Kiner-Falefa runs instead of slides, it’s Toronto hoisting the trophy and not Los Angeles.
Not the worse baserunning technique-wise, but will probably go down in history as the most-consequential and costly.
Eehh.
Had Toronto won one more game earlier, there would not have been a game 7.
IKF may have been the last person to touch Toronto’s chances, but he sure as hell didn’t lose the series. That was down to every single less than ideal play in all 7 games. His was one of many.
It’s naive jock knucklehead thinking to confuse the last play with the most important play. Don’t get me started on “the wining goal” in hockey. Hint: it’s not the last one.
Apparently, there is a petition in Los Angeles asking the Dodgers to please not go to the White House. It will be interesting to see how much pull it has, considering the fan base.
“Los Angeles is a city built by immigrants, working families, and dreamers. We celebrate our champions, but we also stand for justice, dignity, and love for our community,” the non-profit organization said in an Instagram post.
“Dodgers, stay with us. Stand with the city that has always stood with you.”
I never heard of “decoy balls”. I reckon it is because in the bleachers you better throw the opponents ball back (in many parks. I haven’t got the recent ‘must’ list handy). Yet since sometime the balls have something on them (besides being made from the secret MLB clay) that identifies it as at least a real WS ball.
I’m sure Christies will have it up for $100,000.
I can see ICE rounding them all up and flying them to Washington.
Jeremy Giambi should have slid and IKF should have stood.
The New York Boneheads. Five years later, in game 7 of the 1926 WS, another one-run game, the series ended with Babe Ruth getting caught stealing second. There’s speculation that it was a hit-and-run, but still.
I’ve been saying this for years. Glad that somebody agrees with me!
So,
- I am pretty sure Mariano Rivera pitched for the Yankees, and
- The 2003 World Series did not end on a double play. Josh Beckett tagged out Jorge Posada on a short grounder.
Don’t trust online AIs for stuff like this.
That was already debunked shortly after I posted. I’ll be sure to double-check next time.
The reason behind Alex Vesia’s missing the Word Series has been revealed. His baby daughter died on October 26. Since it was announced that he wouldn’t be on the roster on October 23, it appears that she had an illness or injury that caused it to not be a sudden passing.