Could New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s home run ball sell for more than $2 million?

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge’s record-breaking 62nd home run ball is headed for auction where it could fetch millions.

Judge broke the single-season American League home run record against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Oct. 4. Since 1961, former Yankee Roger Maris held the record of 61 home runs in a season for 61 years.

Cory Youmans, the fan who caught Judge’s 62nd home run ball, sold its rights to auction house Goldin and will go up for auction on Nov. 29. The opening bid for the ball is $1 million.

When everything is said and done, the ball could sell for at least $2 million if not more, said Scott Mann, owner at American Dreams Sportscards in Haltom City.

“Since it’s an artifact, it could sell for $3 to 5 million,” Mann said. “My only concern is that the sports collectible trading card hobby has kind of been in a rut.”

Uncertain marketplace for record-breaking baseball

The sporting card world is “kind of in a rut” due to inflation, which could impact the selling price of Judge’s home run ball.

The price of sports trading cards are down from what they have been the last two years and inflation is to blame, Mann said. Just as inflation affected many Americans at the gas pump and grocery store, it has impacted the sports trading card industry.

For example, a Luka Dončić rookie card recently sold at a public auction for $3.1 million, but that same card sold to a collector for $4.6 million just last year.

However, it remains to be seen how the sporting card woes will affect the memorabilia industry, Mann said. Unlike trading cards, memorabilia comes directly from the game and players.

“When everybody was buying trading cards and it was exploding, heck that ball might be $5 million,” Mann said. “But since the card hobby is kind of in a rut, I’d be surprised to see it hit $2 million but I could be wrong.”

MVP crown could be a boost

To add to Judge’s historic season, the Yankees outfielder was recently crowned American League MVP.

The MVP award could boost the price of the 62nd home run ball, since Judge keeps adding on to what was an already historic season, Mann said. No one will know how much the ball will sell for until mid-December, since the auction will likely last for a couple weeks.

Judge told reporters Thursday that he doesn’t plan on bidding for his home run ball when it hits the auction house. It remains to be seen if Judge does bid on the ball, but if Mann was in the Yankees slugger’s shoes, it would be a different story.

“Probably so,” Mann said about bidding for the home run ball. “If I was in his position, I would definitely consider it.”