Shohei Ohtani just hit another milestone, and he wasn't even on the field.
The historic ball that the Los Angeles Dodgers star knocked out of Miami 's LoanDepot Park last month is now the most expensive ever sold at auction. On Tuesday night, the sports collectible went under the hammer at an auction hosted by Goldin, where it fetched an eye-watering $4.39 million. The milestone ball was Ohtani's 50th homer of the year, making him the inaugural member of MLB's 50-50 club—meaning, the slugger is the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season.
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The sale surpasses the previous titleholder, which was Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball from 1998, which commanded $3.005 million. Ohtani's keepsake also beat out Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball from the 2022 season, which sold for $1.5 million.
On September 19, just after Ohtani rewrote the record books against the Miami Marlins , a fan, now identified as Christian Zacek , reportedly snapped the ball up in the stands; he opted to walk away with it after a brief discussion with the Dodgers organization. At the time, auction experts estimated that the memorabilia could sell for upwards of $500,000 , which is what bidding started at.
"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," said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, in a press 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."
While finding a buyer for the ball was easy, there are still questions about whose account the proceeds of the sale will be deposited into. Florida resident Max Matus filed a lawsuit claiming that he was the rightful owner of the memento and that Zacek wrestled it out of his hand, according to the Athletic. A separate lawsuit was then filed by fellow Sunshine State resident Joseph Davidov, who believed he was the owner. A judge ultimately ruled that the auction would go on as planned, however, both cases remain open.
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