The owner of a sports memorabilia auction house said he offered $2 million to the fan who caught New York Yankees star Aaron Judge‘s American League-record 62nd home run.
JP Cohen, president of Memory Lane Inc. in Tustin, California, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he has texted and emailed Cory Youmans, the man who caught Judge’s milestone shot Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Cohen said Youmans has not yet replied.
“I feel the offer is way above fair, if he is inclined to sell it,” Cohen said in a telephone interview with the AP on Wednesday.
Youmans grabbed the historic souvenir on the fly as it sailed into the front row of section 31 in left field during the Yankees’ game against the Texas Rangers. The homer pushed Judge past Roger Maris for the AL season record — a mark many consider baseball’s “clean” standard because the only National League players who hit more have been tarnished by ties to steroids.
Youmans, who is from Dallas, works in the financial world. He was asked Tuesday what he planned to do with the prize while security personnel whisked him away to have it authenticated.
“Good question. I haven’t thought about it,” he said.
Soon after a local TV station posted the brief interview with Youmans in a walkway, Bri Amaranthus tweeted: “THIS IS MY HUSBAND.” Amaranthus works in local media and is an alum of ABC’s “The Bachelor.”
The record price for a home run ball is $3 million, paid for Mark McGwire’s record 70th from the 1998 season.
Cohen had previously pledged to offer $2 million for Judge’s 62nd homer. He said his company has a good relationship with the Yankees and it would be willing to loan the ball to the team for an exhibit. He added the team has frequently exhibited items owned by Memory Lane at Yankee Stadium.
“We did make an offer of $2 million, and that offer is still valid,” Cohen said.
After the Yankees lost 3-2, Judge said he didn’t have possession of the home run ball.
“I don’t know where it’s at,” he said. “We’ll see what happens with that. It would be great to get it back, but that’s a souvenir for a fan. He made a great catch out there, and they’ve got every right to it.”
Youmans was among the crowd of 38,832, the largest to watch a baseball game at the 3-year-old ballpark.
Judge was given the day off by manager Aaron Boone on Wednesday as the Yankees prepared to close the regular season against the Rangers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
