ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols had a sendoff season for the ages, and baseball fans might hope to get their hands on some piece of history to remember it.
The ultimate prize, the baseball Albert Pujols slugged for his 700th career home run, is up for auction. There aren’t many pieces of memorabilia as historic as this in baseball, so it’s going to cost quite a bit, a sum of at least six figures as of Tuesday.
Goldin Collectibles, a New Jersey-based sports memorabilia company, is hosting the auction. The ball began with a $25,000 minimum bid on Oct. 25. After 23 other bids, the leading offer is now $160,000. The auction ends Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.
Major League Baseball has authenticated the ball, and the league also marked a P and 1 stamp around the MLB logo after the home run.
Pujols delivered the pricey gift on Sept. 23 off of Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Phil Bickford at Dodger Stadium. He crushed his 700th career home run just one at-bat after his 699th home run. He is just one of four players in MLB history to reach that milestone and one of just two with at least 700 home runs and 3,000 hits.
In September, Sports Classics owner Dick Zitzmann told FOX 2 that Pujols’ 697th home run ball could fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. He estimated as high as $750,000.
What that means for home run ball No. 700 remains to be seen. Zitzman’s projection came weeks before Pujols joined the exclusive 700 club and wrapped up his career with 703 home runs.
Albert Pujols officially filed his papers for retirement on Monday. His 22-year-run is considered one of the greatest not just in the 21st century, but of all time. Pujols won two World Series and ended up with 703 home runs, 2,218 RBI and a .296 batting average from 2001-2022, the first eleven and the grand sendoff season in which he dominated with the Cardinals.