The World Series concluded yesterday and is likely going to be the least-watched Major League Baseball final in league history. But that doesn't mean that league has lost value as seen through the price of memorabilia.
The series-clinching ball for the Texas Rangers over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 is reportedly estimated to be worth somewhere around $250,000 to $350,000, according to a report by Sportico.
Sportico's source for the cost estimate was Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, a sports memorabilia marketplace.
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The ball that Goldin is referring to is the one thrown by Texas pitcher Josh Sborz to Arizona's Ketel Marte, a called strike in the bottom of the ninth that clinched the 5-0 Rangers victory.
This World Series is only averaging about 8.5 million fans (the viewership numbers of the Nov. 1 finale have yet to be released), which his much lower than the 11.7 million of the past two years, and even less than the 9.8 million during the covid-affected 2020 season.
The national public may have not been as interested in the two teams this year, but Goldin told Sportico that the 2020 and 2021 series-clinching balls were valued in the same ballpark as this year's ball, but top out at $250,000.
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This could be attributed to the incredible turnaround from the Rangers, who had missed the playoffs the last six seasons, including one year where they lost 102 games.
This was also the first World Series win for the Rangers, who were one of just six major league baseball franchises to not win the grand prize prior to Wednesday.
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