Holiday Auction Closing December 8, 2018
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/8/2018
This Official Major League Robert D. Manfred Jr. baseball was used during the top of the first inning of the Atlanta Braves 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on July 20th, 2018. This ball was first pitched by Stephen Strasburg to Braves rookie sensation and 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuña Jr., who singled to center field on the sixth pitch of his at-bat. This was the 43rd hit of Acuña’s career. Acuña went on to steal second before Ozzie Albies hit this same baseball for an RBI double. After Albies’ stole third, Freddie Freeman drove in the Curaçaoan second baseman with a run-scoring fielder’s choice.
Acuña played like an established star in this contest, finishing 3-4 with an RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. In the eighth inning, Acuña took Nationals reliever Shawn Kelly deep to left for his eighth home run of his rookie season. Acuña finished the season with 26 homers, 64 RBI, 16 steals, and a .293 batting average and was voted as the National League Rookie of the Year. His play helped the Braves to make a surprise playoff appearance. This baseball comes with a MLB Authenticated hologram (JC 144503).