# Selling a famous home-run ball: How does the fan prove that it's the legit ball? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [October 10, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019 "2022-10-10T15:49:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/1 "2022-10-10T15:49:21Z")
Say some fan catches a famous home-run ball (a ball that involved breaking some record) and wants to sell it. How does a buyer verify that the ball is indeed the real one, considering that it won’t look any different from any other MLB ball? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/2 "2022-10-10T15:51:23Z")
There are authenticators at the ball parks > **[How MLB makes sure your souvenir is ‘real’](https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-authentication-program)** > > When Juan Nieves threw the Brewers franchise’s first no-hitter back on April 15, 1987, scant souvenirs survived. > “We kept his jersey and hat, and I think we had one ball from the game,” said Brewers longtime director of clubhouse operations Tony... ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/3 "2022-10-10T15:51:53Z")
MLB will get to the person who caught it and authenticate the ball before the inning is over. Packed, sealed, certificated. They really are very good at it. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/4 "2022-10-10T15:52:08Z")
> **[How MLB makes sure your souvenir is ‘real’](https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-authentication-program)** > > When Juan Nieves threw the Brewers franchise’s first no-hitter back on April 15, 1987, scant souvenirs survived. > “We kept his jersey and hat, and I think we had one ball from the game,” said Brewers longtime director of clubhouse operations Tony... ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/5 "2022-10-10T16:08:20Z")
Ah, interesting. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/6 "2022-10-10T17:51:12Z")
This year, MLB used specially-marked baseballs whenever Judge was at bat when he was close to tying and breaking the league record. > **[For Major Milestones, M.L.B. Trusts but Verifies](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/sports/baseball/aaron-judge-ball-authentication.html)** > > The ball from Aaron Judge’s 60th homer carried two markings — one of them invisible — authenticating it as the real deal. He will be pitched special baseballs for the rest of the season. ---
**Author:** ![Win\_Place\_Show](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/win_place_show/32/13469_2.png) [@Win\_Place\_Show](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Win_Place_Show)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/7 "2022-10-11T23:52:49Z")
I kept wondering what would happen if - the pitch right before Judge hit his 62nd homerun - he fouled a ball into the stands. That ball would have the same super duper high tech double secret “marking” that the homerun ball has, so how would they be able to tell the difference in the two balls, 20 years from now? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/8 "2022-10-11T23:57:48Z")
Presumably they have records of which ball was used for which pitch, so they’d know that one set of sooper sekrit markings corresponds to the foul ball and another corresponds to the record-setting home run. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/9 "2022-10-12T00:25:22Z")
> [@Win\_Place\_Show](#): > > That ball would have the same super duper high tech double secret “marking” that the homerun ball has It’s not all that complicated. Each ball has an individual authentication mark. For Judge, they also numbered each one in pen: [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdMr9_FWIAM0h78?format=jpg&name=small) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FdMr9_FWIAM0h78?format=jpg&name=small) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/10 "2022-10-12T15:16:03Z")
Another fact that one fan found out the hard way, you have to get it authenticated before you leave the game: > **[Cardinals Fan Who Caught Pujols' 703rd Home Run Loses Out on Big Payday](https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/cardinals-fan-who-caught-pujols-703rd-home-run-loses-out-on-big-payday-38638831)** > > Metro East native Mike Hutcheson left the stadium without having the ball authenticated by MLB ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selling-a-famous-home-run-ball-how-does-the-fan-prove-that-its-the-legit-ball/973019/11 "2022-10-12T15:50:16Z")
What an idiot. Stadium officials go down and tell these people what the process is when they catch these balls, too.