(Bloomberg) -- Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve scooped up the ground ball, cocked his right arm, and threw to first base. The baseball was caught by Yuli Gurriel, who probably didn’t realize he was clutching a keepsake worth $250,000.
The baseball used to record the final out of the Astros’ Game 7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers -- and the franchise’s first World Series championship -- is the most valuable piece of memorabilia from the Series-deciding game, said Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions in New Jersey.
A spokesman for Major League Baseball didn’t immediately know if the final-out ball had been authenticated after the game.
The price pales in comparison to last year’s final-out baseball that ended the Chicago Cubs’ 108-year championship drought. Goldin at the time estimated that particular baseball could be worth more than $3 million. Cubs co-owner Tom Ricketts has said he’s keeping it.
Historically, for big events like the World Series, Major League Baseball owns game-used balls and decides what to do with them. Teams and charities often ask for items to auction for fund-raisers.
More broadly, Goldin said the biggest winners from a memorabilia standpoint are Houston Astros players Jose Altuve, 27, and Carlos Correa, 23, young stars who became household names during Houston’s postseason run.
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