Fan turned down massive offer for Aaron Judge HR ball

The fan that caught Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball turned down quite the sum for it, but is still in line for a big payday.

35-year-old Cory Youmans of Dallas told Jeff Passan of ESPN that he turned down an offer of $3 million for the baseball, and plans to instead auction the baseball off.

“We’ve already had an offer for $3 million,” Dave Baron, Youmans’ attorney, told Passan. “Talking to the auction people, they don’t really commit to a number, but they said it just could be significantly higher based on New York, the New York fan base and how crazy it could get at an auction.”

Youmans said he wants to travel the world with his wife, sports reporter Bri Amaranthus, and build a classic car workshop for his grandfather. He would also like to make sure some of the money raised from the auction is donated to Judge’s All Rise Foundation, which benefits children. Ideally, he added, the ball would end up back with Judge, the Yankees, or the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Youmans can hardly be blamed for keeping the ball and using it to make enough money to chase his dreams. Some might be critical of him for not simply returning the ball to Judge for free, but he seems to have his heart in the right place and priorities in order in making his ultimate decision.