Forgotten Treasures: Ted Williams’ 500th Homer Ball

Pick the biggest current hitting star in baseball. Probably Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge depending on which side of the country you live in. Ohtani has hit 280 homers so far in his career and Judge has hit 368, and given their ages and track records it’s a safe bet that they’re each going to make a run at 500 some day.

Now picture that day. Here come the Dodgers into town with Shohei sitting on 499 homers, or Judge brings the Yankees and his 499 homers into some stadium near you. Do you try to get tickets? Say it’s some random Friday night in June and you don’t have to work the next day, and the local team generally has plenty of tickets available. You probably try to go see some history, right? Especially if Ohtani or Judge hit #499 just the night before in a different town and has been on a bit of a heater in recent days.

Even if you don’t personally go, you know it’s going to be a packed house at the ballpark for that game. People you know will be there. You’ll make a point of trying to watch it on TV at least, or be somewhere that has a television nearby. And if, by some chance, he hits the milestone homer and you missed it, you know it will be shown as a highlight immediately. ESPN will break into normal programming to show each Shohei or Judge at bat until he hits number 500. You’ll check your phone for updates on when he’s due up.

Now picture the crowd at the ballpark. Seats in the most likely landing spots are going for a premium. There are more adults in those parts of the park than usual, those annoying guys who roam for home run balls and snatch them away from kids so they can sell them later. In fact, responsible parents might actually steer their kids clear of those outfield seats, fearful that they might be trampled in the inevitable scramble to get that milestone ball.