Whoever catches Aaron Judge's next home-run ball could become a millionaire

The Yankees star Aaron Judge is on the verge of making history after being one home run away from tying Roger Maris’ American League and Yankees home run record of 61.

With just 13 games to go, the slugger is on course to finish the season with 65 home runs.

But with home run balls comes money, and experts are estimating his 61st home run ball could fetch anywhere from $250,000 to more than $2 million at auction.

And a lucky fan who catches his 62nd (and record-breaking) bomb/homer/moon shot is worth a hefty sum between $500,000 and $5m+, according to SCP Auctions President David Kohler.

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When asked how the California-based auction house came up with the estimated cost for 6’7 baseball icon’s home run balls, he said, “it’s based on other sales” that were made previously.

“We’ve handled a lot of home run balls over the years,” Kohler said.

The auction house has been in business for over 40 years and sold Barry Bond’s record 756th home run ball for $752,467 in 2007.

The auction company also sold Alex Rodriguez’s 600th home run ball for $97,710.

With all that money on the line to be made, the MLB isn’t going to risk any instances of forgery.

For the rest of the season, every ball pitched to Judge will have a marking on it that can only be seen with a particular technology, The New York Times reports.

However, the league isn’t being more specific than that to ensure the process runs as legitimately as possible.

On Tuesday (20 September), the 60th home run was caught by a Yankees fan and was returned to Judge.

Yankee Stadium security staff came up to the fan and agreed to return the ball after the walk-off victory.

The fan did end up receiving signed baseballs and a signed bat from Judge. The athlete also took a photo with the fan and his pals.

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