When Aaron Judge went yard for the 62nd time this season on Tuesday night to set a new American League record, the baseball that the New York Yankees slugger hit into the seats in left field at Globe Life Field in Texas landed in the glove of one Cory Youmans — and could end up as a $2 million bonus for the Dallas investment banker.
Almost instantly snatched by ballpark security personnel so the ball could be authenticated, he was asked what he planned to do with the piece of MLB history. “Good question,” he said at the time. “I haven’t thought about it.”
Now, two days later, Youmans has had some time to think and one of the things he’s likely been pondering is an offer from the president of a California auction house to give him $2 million for Judge’s record-breaking ball. Under normal circumstances, Memory Lane President JP Cohen’s offer would seem like a no-brainer. But that’s likely not the case for Youmans, a vice president at Fisher Investments, which manages $197 billion worldwide, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That figure may be a bit high, but it’s in the ballpark.
“Fisher Investments is one of the leading investment advisers in the industry and manages $165 billion, according to the company,” per Investment News. “A call to Youmans at the Fisher Investments office in Plano Wednesday morning was referred to the firm’s public relations personnel. The call was not returned. Meanwhile, Youmans’ LinkedIn profile had turned dark.”
Whether Fisher manages $197 billion or $165 billion, Youmans probably doesn’t have to settle for the first offer he receives and may not have to settle for any offer at all. What Youmans could do if he decides he wants to sell is put the ball up for auction via Memory Lane with Cohen’s starting offer of $2 million kicking off the bidding. With that starting point, the ball could end up breaking another record and sell for more than the $3 million that was paid for Mark McGwire’s record 70th home run from the 1998 season.
Of course, Youmans could also just give the ball back to Judge, too. “I don’t know where it’s at,” Judge said after his historic home run. “We’ll see what happens with that. It would be great to get it back, but that’s a souvenir for a fan. He made a great catch out there and they’ve got every right to it.”
“We did make an offer of $2 million, and that offer is still valid,” Cohen told the Associated Press. “I feel the offer is way above fair, if he is inclined to sell it.”
That’s a big if.
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