Aaron Judge baseball caught by adviser auctioned for $1.5 million

Cory Youmans, an adviser in Plano, Texas, snagged Judge’s historic 62nd home run of the season on Oct. 4.

Aaron Judge’s historic home run ball, which was caught by a financial adviser in Texas this fall, fetched $1.5 million in an online auction that ended Saturday night. That’s about half of what the adviser, Cory Youmans, had been offered earlier for the horsehide sphere, according to news reports.

Bidding for the historic ball began on Nov. 29 at $1 million, according to the website for Goldin Auctions, which handled the transaction.

Cory Youmans, a Fisher Investments vice president and investment adviser in Plano since 2013, snagged Judge’s historic 62nd home run of this season on Oct. 4 in game two of the New York Yankees’ doubleheader with the Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Judge, a Yankees outfielder and designated hitter, broke the single season record for home runs in the American League, which was set in 1961 by another Yankees outfielder, Roger Maris, who hit 61 home runs that season.

Youmans reportedly turned down a private $3 million offer for the splendid pea, but praised the process by which the ball was ultimately sold to a bidder only identified as Joe, according to the New York Post.

“Congratulations to Joe! Given the historical significance of #62, it was important to me that the selling process was fair, accessible and transparent,” Youmans said Sunday in a statement released by Goldin, according to the Post’s report. “Joe seems like a great man and the perfect steward for this special piece of MLB history.”

According to the Post, Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998 was sold for $3.05 million, making it the most expensive ball ever. Judge’s 62nd home run ball is now the second-highest price ever paid for a baseball at public auction.

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