The final out ball of the 2024 World Series was sold after former Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Will Smith and Walker Buehler teamed up to auction it.
The auction was a partnership between the Catching Hope Foundation, established by Will and Cara Smith, and the Buehler Family Foundation, which was created by Walker and McKenzie Buehler. All proceeds are going to the Catching Hope Foundation to benefit ongoing relief efforts for victims of the Los Angeles fires.
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The online auction was hosted on the Memorabilia Network with an opening bid of $150,000 on March 13. Bidding closed on April 5, with the ball being auctioned off for a total $414,000.
With the sale finalized, Smith was pleased with the final price the ball fetched, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Yeah, I am,” he said. “We had appraisals that were all over the map. It’s really hard to tell.”
As for any possible second guesses about the sale, it wasn’t too difficult of a decision for him to make in the first place:
“Not really,” he said. “I’m not a guy who collects a lot of stuff. That was not too hard for me.”
The knuckle curve that Buehler threw to secure the Dodgers’ eighth World Series title ended up being his last pitch as a member of the organization. He signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with the Boston Red Sox during the offseason and is off to a slow start through his first two starts of 2025.
Smith on the other hand is off to another hot start to the season, batting .423/.583/.615 with two doubles, one home run, and six RBI entering play Monday. He has recorded a hit in nine of his 10 games played so far in 2025.
Dodgers baseballs auctioned from 2024 World Series
Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam ball from Game 1 of the World Series sold for $1.56 million, and the one Aaron Judge dropped in Game 5 went for $40,000 via auction.
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