The Los Angeles Dodgers auctioned a number of baseballs and other memorabilia items from the World Series this week to benefit their official team charity, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.
A New York radio host wasn’t feeling so charitable Friday.
One of the baseballs up for auction was the ball Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge dropped in the fifth inning of Game 5. The pivotal error catalyzed the Dodgers’ five-run rally from a 5-0 deficit — a turning point in their eventual 7-6 win to clinch the game, and the championship.
Evan Roberts of WFAN singled out the auction of the Judge ball as a “classless” gesture on the Dodgers’ part.
“Let me raise my hand and say this about the L.A. Dodgers, they are classless pigs. No, they really are,” Roberts said on the Evan & Tiki show Friday. “I don’t mind anyone buying it. It’s a great collectible. But jokes aside, I think the L.A. Dodgers are classless pigs for putting that up for sale. I really do.
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“You have a lot of great moments for this year, and that’s a troll. That’s all that is. That is a major troll on the New York Yankees.”
The ball sold for $43,510.
The historic significance of Judge’s dropped fly ball in the context of the World Series, combined with his stature as the Yankees’ captain and the reigning MVP of the American League, made the ball a natural object of desire for collectors.
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The dropped fly ball allowed Tommy Edman to reach first base, and Kiké Hernández to reach second base, as the Dodgers began their rally from a 5-0 deficit against Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole.
After the ball dropped, the Dodgers would load the bases when a fielding error by shortstop Anthony Volpe allowed the next batter, Will Smith, to reach base.
Five runs would come around to score with two outs in the inning, beginning when Mookie Betts beat Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo to the bag on a ground ball between first base and the pitcher’s mound.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation was established as the team’s official charity in 1995 by then-owner Peter O’Malley. Since the team was purchased by Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012, the foundation has invested more than $60 million in programs and grants, according to its website.
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