A historic ball fetched a record price.
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th homer that secured MLB’s first 50-50 season sold for $4,392,000 when including the buyer’s premium, the highest total ever paid for any sporting ball.
Mark McGwire’s 70th homer from the 1998 season held the previous record with a $3 million price, according to ESPN.
The buyer is not known.
“Shohei Ohtani made history with this baseball, and now, with the highest sale price for any ball ever sold, this legendary piece of sports memorabilia has made history again,” Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, which solid the ball, told ESPN in a statement.
“We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder.”
Ohtani became the first member of the 50-50 club on Sept. 19, 2024 in a otherworldly 6-for-6, three-homer, 10-RBI performance against the Marlins in Miami.
A skirmish broke out in the stands for the ball, which resulted in the possession of the ball becoming a legal issue.
Max Matus, 18, filed a lawsuit against the retriever of the ball — misidentified as Chris Belanski but actually Christian Zacek, per NPR — his friend, Kelvin Ramirez and Goldin to stop the selling of the ball.
Matus claimed he is the rightful owner of the ball.
The attorneys representing Zacek released a statement on Oct. 17 that said the “three baseball fans” in the litigation agreed to allow the sale to happen and the ball can be sold “free and clear of any legal claims to the baseball against the future buyer.”
The $4.392 million will be placed in an account until the lawsuits are settled, per ESPN.
“We are pleased that the auction has successfully concluded with a purchase price (including the buyer’s premium) of $4,392,000 and we can now fully focus on litigating our client’s right to sole and exclusive ownership of the proceeds of the sale,” one of Zacke’s attorneys, Dustin Robinson, Esq. of LumaLex Law, said in a statement Wednesday after the ball’s sale.
The sale comes just days before Ohtani and the Dodgers open a star-studded World Series on Friday as favorites against the Yankees.