On September 21st, 2024, Shohei Othani made history. He became the first MLB player in history to tally both fifty home runs and fifty base steals in one season.
Of course, this meant the home run ball for his 50th home run would inevitably be very valuable. There was a massive scramble at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, where Shohei Othani hit his 50th home run to the right field seats. One lucky man appeared to acquire the ball, who reportedly flat-out refused the Dodger’s straight offer of $300,000.
Now, that ball is set to be auctioned starting at $500,000.
However, according to a new lawsuit, the rightful owner of the ball is cloudier than it may appear.
Eighteen-year-old Max Matus and his lawyers officially filed suit in Miami-Dade County in Florida, alleging that he got the ball before being dispossessed by the other fan, named Chris Belanski, who Matus claims “wrapped his legs around Max’s arm and used his hands to wrangle the ball out of Max’s hands, stealing the ball for himself,” before the fan walked out of the stadium with the ball.
The aim of the lawsuit is to postpone the auction and sale of the ball until its rightful owner can be determined.
While there are videos of the mayhem, there weren’t any that showed the specific interaction that Matus alleges, though it did show the two men wrestling each other for the baseball.
Goldin Auctions, the broker who Belanski is auctioning the ball, released a statement to ESPN, stating “We are aware of the case that has been filed. Having reviewed the allegations and images included in the lawsuit, and publicly available video from the game, Goldin plans to go live with the auction of the Ohtani 50/50 ball.”
While Goldin acknowledges their company is named in the lawsuit, the ball is still set to go on auction on Friday.
