Shohei Ohtani’s 50/50 Ball Reaches $1.6 Million at Auction as Bidding Continues

The auction for Shohei Ohtani’s 50/50 game ball is approaching the $2 million mark.

Bidding for the piece of MLB history is now up to $1.6 million.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar reached the milestone of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season last month, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so. Ohtani reached this milestone in his 150th game.

Ohtani became the sixth player in Major League history and the fastest ever to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season, doing so in just 126 games.

A few days after Ohtani made history, the ball that gave him 50 home runs was auctioned off, with bidding starting at $500,000.

Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, told Eyewitness News that a friend of the fan who caught the ball contacted the company via social media.

“You want to sell it right away while it’s on everyone’s lips and everyone wants it,” Goldin said.

However, ownership of the historic ball is on hold due to a legal dispute. Two people have filed a lawsuit claiming they are the rightful owners of the ball. Max Matus, 18, filed a civil lawsuit in late September claiming he owned the ball and seeking an injunction to stop the auction. Judge Spencer Eig of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court did not grant the injunction. Instead, he scheduled a hearing for Oct. 10 and ordered that the ball not be sold before that date. Then a second fan, Joseph Davidov, filed a lawsuit claiming he was the rightful owner of the ball.

Related story: Who owns the Ohtani 50/50 Home Run Ball? Legal experts get involved

Then an agreement was reached earlier this week. The plaintiffs agreed that the auction could continue to accept bids while the litigation continued. The money ultimately paid for the ball will be deposited into an account until the pending ownership dispute is resolved.

Experts believe that the bid could reach $3 million by the end of the auction on October 22nd.