‘I was shocked’: Little League bat-flipper’s bat fetches nearly 10K at auction

The bat flip led to a legal battle that allowed the suspended player to compete in the state tournament.
Bat flip: The bat used by Little Leaguer Marco Rocco sold for $9,882 in an auction on Friday. (Goldin Auctions)

The bat used by a New Jersey Little Leaguer, who was suspended for a bat-flip after a game-winning home run in July, sold for $9,882 in an auction on Friday.

According to New Jersey-based auction house Goldin Auctions, the 31-inch, 23-ounce bat used by Haddonfield Little League player Marco Rocco sold for $9,882. The final gavel price was $8,100 after 68 bids were recorded, but the buyer’s premium boosted the total amount of the sale to nearly $10,000.

All of the proceeds from the sale will go to the league where Rocco, 12, plays.

“I was watching it on my phone. I was shocked,” Joe Rocco, Marco’s father, told The Athletic. “I didn’t know what to expect, but as it got to the last hour or so, there were multiple people outbidding each other to the goal line.”

The winning bidder was not identified.

Marco Rocco tossed his bat after hitting a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning during Haddonfield’s tournament game on July 16. The blast to center field clinched the Section 4 title for Haddonfield and earned the team a spot in the New Jersey state championship.

However, Rocco was ejected after crossing the plate and suspended for one game, an edict that would have prevented him from playing in the first round of the state tournament the following week.

His family was told Marco’s actions were “unsportsmanlike” and “horseplay,” and they took legal action.

Joe Rocco won an emergency temporary restraining order that overturned the umpire’s decision. The ruling allowed Marco to compete in the four-team, double-elimination tournament.

Haddonfield was ultimately eliminated from the tournament. The team lost 10-0 to Elmora in the first round on July 25 and then remained alive with a victory against Ridgewood in a game where Marco struck out four in 2 1/3 innings.

But in a July 27 rematch with Elmora, Haddonfield was eliminated, falling 14-10.

Marco did not go quietly. In his final at-bat in the sixth inning, he hit a two-out, two-run home run. According to NJ.com, the boy “planted (his bat) calmly near the batter’s box and took his lap around the bases.”

That capped a .625 hitting performance for Rocco at the state tournament. He scored six runs and had four RBI.

In three games this weekend, Rocco went 5-for-8, posting a .625 average with six runs scored, four RBI.

For the Goldin Auction sale, the Little Leaguer signed the infamous bat in black marker across the barrel, adding the inscription “The Bat Flip HR 7/16/25.”

“Marco loves Little League and is happy that he is able to give back to an organization that he is very fond of,” Joe Rocco said in a text to The Associated Press. “Little League was such a big part of Marco’s life for a long time.”

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