MLB JUST REACHED A NEW LOW OF STUPIDITY

Major League Baseball has reached a new low, and it’s all about greed. The league’s decision to auction off the ball that New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge dropped in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series is not just embarrassing—it’s an outright disgrace. For $43,510, an error ball became a symbol of MLB’s shameless attempts to profit at any cost, and Rob Manfred should be ashamed.

The auction, hosted by Major League Baseball, drew 101 bids over its 10-day run, culminating in Thursday night’s sale. Let’s not sugarcoat this: this wasn’t about celebrating the history or beauty of the game. This was about squeezing every dollar possible out of a World Series moment—and a negative one at that. Is this what baseball has become under Manfred’s leadership?

The Yankees entered that inning with a commanding 5-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, only for Judge’s error to spark a five-run rally by the Dodgers. They went on to win 7-6 and claim the World Series championship. Instead of letting that painful moment for Yankees fans fade into memory, MLB decided to immortalize it in the most crass way possible—by turning it into a commodity.

Selling memorabilia should honor the highlights and triumphs that make sports special. By putting this error ball up for auction, MLB didn’t just commodify failure; it capitalized on humiliation. What’s next, auctioning off the broken bat from a crucial strikeout? Perhaps the cleats a player slipped in during a game-changing play? This is a slippery slope, and it’s one the league has gleefully embraced under Manfred’s reign.

This isn’t even the first time MLB has turned an error ball into a cash grab. The most infamous example remains the ball that rolled through Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. That ball, autographed by Mets star Mookie Wilson, sold for an astounding $418,250 in 2012. But at least that ball had historical significance—a moment that defined a generation of heartbreak and triumph. The same cannot be said for Aaron Judge’s dropped fly ball.

The Dodgers, ever complicit, listed the ball as “Dropped Fly Ball by Aaron Judge” on their official auction site and made sure to note that Gerrit Cole was the pitcher during the at-bat. The description itself reeks of cynicism, as if rubbing salt into the wound for Yankees fans was part of the sales pitch. The ball started at a modest $100 but ballooned to over $43,000 by the time bidding closed.

To be clear, this isn’t about the fans who bid on the ball. People have the right to spend their money however they choose. This is about Major League Baseball’s inability to draw the line between celebrating the game and exploiting it. The sport’s leadership, spearheaded by Manfred, has repeatedly shown that they value profits over principles.

Rob Manfred has presided over countless controversies during his tenure, but this might just be the pettiest. It’s one thing to implement questionable rule changes or botch labor negotiations—it’s another to tarnish the integrity of the game by turning moments of failure into cash cows. Manfred’s tenure has been marked by a relentless drive to monetize every aspect of baseball, often at the expense of tradition and the fans who love the game. It’s time for him to go.

The ball should never have been up for auction in the first place. Selling it was a slap in the face to Yankees fans and an insult to the legacy of the World Series. What could have been a teachable moment about resilience or the unpredictable nature of baseball became yet another crass reminder of the league’s greed.

MLB has embarrassed itself yet again, and Rob Manfred’s fingerprints are all over this debacle. If the league wants to restore even a shred of dignity, it should start by apologizing to fans, rethinking its priorities, and finding new leadership. Baseball deserves better.