Jeter walk-off baseball in final stadium game worth $50,000
The baseball Derek Jeter hit to score the winning run in his final game at Yankee Stadium is worth $50,000, according to Brandon Steiner, founder of Steiner Sports Marketing, whose exclusive athletes include the New York Yankees' captain.
Steiner made the estimate in a telephone interview minutes after Jeter, 40, singled to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning last night to give the Yankees a 6-5 win against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees, who won't appear in the postseason, finish the regular season at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. Jeter said he won't play shortstop against the Red Sox, preferring to play his final game at his usual position before home fans.
Major League Baseball spokesman Jeff Heckelman said the ball Jeter hit to win the game was retrieved, authenticated and given to the Yankees.
Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said he doesn't know where the ball is - "if MLB said we have the ball, then we do."
Heckelman said MLB's on-site authenticators are current or former law-enforcement officials trained in preserving chain of custody. The authenticators at Yankee Stadium, he said, retrieved the ball - having witnessed its every move - authenticated it and presented it to the team.
The baseballs used in the game weren't pre-marked, Heckelman said, adding that MLB only does that for impending milestones such as a 3,000th hit or 500th home run.
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnickbloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillupbloomberg.net Rob Gloster, Jay Beberman