How Much Is a Record Breaking Ball Worth?

Arriving with his glove for the Rangers Yankee game at Globe Life Field, Rangers fan Cory Youmans had a front row seat in left field.

He left the game with a security detail protecting him.

A $2 Million Baseball

The Judge ball headed straight for Youmans in Section 31 Row 1 Seat 3. In the right place at the right time, Cory Youmans says he has not decided what to do with the Judge baseball. Based on the Mark McGwire 70th home run ball that sold at auction for $3 million in 1999, the Judge ball could be worth a lot.

With his 62nd home run, Yankee slugger Aaron Judge passed the Roger Maris American league record. Asked about Youmans, Judge said, “I don’t know where it’s at, so we’ll see what happens with that. It’d be great to get it back, but that’s a souvenir for a fan, so, you know, they made a great catch out there and they’ve got every right to it.”

Our Bottom Line: Markets

A process rather than a place, markets determine the price and the quantity of a good or a service. The position of the demand curve is determined by several basic determinants. They include income and utility. For the Aaron Judge baseball, we can say that the income of the person that might bid at an auction could be considerable. We just need to add utility or usefulness and we get a million dollar plus demand curve. Then, on the supply side, the value of its land, labor, and capital shape the supply curve. Here, we just have one ball that is unique. If Cory Youmans sends the ball to auction, we can assume that his supply curve will have elevated amounts because of his reference points. After all, Mark McGwire’s 70th was a $3 million home run ball.

So, if Mr. Youmans decides to sell the Judge ball, the market could give him a hefty sum.

My sources and more: CBS Sports had the description of the catch. Then CNN told the economic side of the story. In the past, at econlife, we have looked at million dollar baseball cards.