Dec 4, 2024 - Dec 14, 2024
During a pivotal fifth inning for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez stepped to the plate, with two on, two outs, and the Dodgers down 5-3. With a 1-2 count, New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole hung a 90.6 mph slider down the middle and Hernandez launched the ball 404 feet (101.5 mph exit velocity) over Aaron Judge's glove in deep center, bouncing up against the wall. Both runners raced around the bases to score, tying the game at five apiece. This clutch two-run double by Teoscar Hernandez turned out to be the kill shot in a decisive win-or-go-home game for the Yankees.
Down three games to one in the series, the Yankees had their backs against the wall entering Game 5. With ace Gerritt Cole on the bump, they got off to an ideal start when Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first. Up 5-0, the wheels fell off in the top of the fifth. With a runner on first and no outs, Judge dropped an easy fly ball to center field off the bat of Tommy Edman. With two on, Will Smith hit a slow grounder to shortstop Anthony Volpe, who made an errant throw to third base attempting to get the force. Now the bases were loaded with no outs. Cole rallied to strike out Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani, and when Mookie Betts hit a slow roller towards first baseman Anthony Rizzo, it appeared the Yanks would escape without allowing a run. As Betts hustled down the line, however, Cole made a huge mental mistake and did not cover first. All runners were safe. The score was now 5-1. Freddy Freeman followed with a two-run single to center to make it 5-3. That set the stage for Hernandez's heroics.
We present to you the 2024 World Series game-used baseball that Hernandez hit during the Dodgers' historic fifth-inning comeback in Game 5. Besides Freeman's walk-off grand slam in Game 1 (see Lot 2), it was probably the second most important hit of the entire series as it sucked any remaining wind from the Yankees' sails and swung all the momentum back to the Dodgers. While the Yankees shot themselves in the foot time and time again during the series with errors and bad base running, the Dodgers played clean, situational baseball like a true National League savant. Sacrifice flies by Luz and Betts in the eighth inning turned out to be the finishing touches as the Dodgers held on by a 7-6 score to claim their eighth World Series Championship in franchise history.
The baseball has been affixed with an The Official 2024 World Series (Rob Manfred) baseball displays obvious game use, with bat contact and soiling marks from on-field action. An MLB Authentication hologram (YP831117 with validation code BRY) is affixed to the ball confirming it as Hernandez's 5th inning double.
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