Alcides Escobar wasted no time Tuesday night. The Royals' leadoff hitter smashed the first pitch he saw to deep left center field. A ricochet off Mets center field Yoenis Cespedes's leg allowed Escobar to circle for an inside-the-park home run, the first to lead off a World Series game since 1903, and the first in the Fall Classic since 1929.
Major League Baseball wasted no time reaping the benefits of Escobar's historic at-bat. By the time the Royals and Mets' 14-inning marathon ended after 1 a.m. ET, Escobar artifacts were already in deep on the market.
MLB ripped out a base during the game, and at 9:30 p.m., opened an auction. Here is the 10 p.m. tweet.
This base was part of a #WorldSeries inside-the-park home run. You want it: https://t.co/3YDfUryhFJ pic.twitter.com/9WFnL0AFTn
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2015
As of 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, bidding was up to $500.
At 10:50 p.m., with the Mets threatening to take Game 1, the league scrambled to tweet out the auction for the actual ball, which opened at 8:30 p.m.
.@alcidesescobar2 crushes fastballs. This one was part of #WorldSeries history. Own it: https://t.co/8jy7SsMnP1 pic.twitter.com/eifslrf8c0
— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2015
On Wednesday morning, bidding reached $3,000. Both pieces will be on MLB's auction page through Nov. 4, Game 7 of the World Series.
"I said 'wow!'" Escobar recalls of his series-opening moment. "'I have a chance to make this.' That's nice. That's a lot of fun right there."
It was a lot of fun for Escobar, and now some fans are going to pay a lot of money to get a piece of the memorabilia.
