UPDATE: In a stunning turn of events, SCP Auctions has successfully retrieved two historic World Series home run baseballs caught by a father and son duo during Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays on October 15, 2025. The exciting moment unfolded at Rogers Centre, where baseball fans John Bains and his son Matthew made history.
SCP Auctions’ chief operations officer, Mike Keys, revealed that their inventory manager flew to Ontario earlier this week to collect the prized possessions directly from the Bains family. The authentication process is now underway, which is expected to take a couple of days.
The thrilling game saw Bains, a dedicated Blue Jays season ticket holder, catch the game-tying home run hit by Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas during the top of the ninth inning. But the excitement didn’t end there; in the 11th inning, Matthew snagged Will Smith‘s series-winning home run ball, hit to nearly the same spot in left field.
Bains, who has held season tickets for the past decade, shared, “The main reason I picked these seats, after the Rogers Centre renovation, was for playoffs.” He attended the game with his sons, Matthew and Daniel, and had brought additional baseballs, collected from previous games, in anticipation of catching a Dodgers home run.
After catching Rojas’s home run, Bains tossed one of the extra baseballs back onto the field while keeping the coveted home run ball for himself. A source at Major League Baseball confirmed that the balls will not be authenticated by the league, as they were not marked or witnessed by an official authenticator during the game.
To facilitate the auction process, SCP Auctions will need to collect sworn affidavits and conduct polygraph tests with Bains and Matthew. “With these balls that don’t get MLB stickered, that’s how we have to go about things,” Keys stated, highlighting the rigorous process involved in authenticating such significant memorabilia.
The stakes are high for these baseballs; a similar authenticated ball from the 2024 World Series recently sold for an astounding $414,000, with proceeds aiding Los Angeles fire relief efforts. Additionally, last December, SCP Auctions brokered the sale of Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman‘s 2024 World Series Game 1 walk-off home run for an eye-popping $1.56 million, marking it as the third-most expensive baseball ever sold.
Experts believe the current baseballs could fetch well into six figures, with some estimates predicting Smith’s home run ball might approach seven figures. Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage Auctions, commented, “I think these baseballs will be well into six figures. Smith’s home run is going to top the Rojas ball — but it’s hard to say by how much.”
As the auction process begins, all eyes will be on the unique story of the Bains family and the incredible journey of these two historic baseballs. Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story and the auction results that could change the landscape of sports memorabilia forever.
