Max Matus, an enthusiastic 18-year-old baseball fan, has sparked a legal dispute over the fate of the monumental 50th home run ball hit by Shohei Ohtani during this season. Scheduled to kick off on Friday, the auction for this historic baseball is anticipated to elicit opening bids at a jaw-dropping $500,000.
The courtroom drama began when Matus initiated a lawsuit in Florida to block the auction of the cherished baseball, which is currently held by another fan, Chris Belanski. Matus alleges that during the game on September 19 at loanDepot Park in Miami, the ball was wrongfully snatched from his possession by Belanski and his companion, Kelvin Ramirez, in a forceful manner.
Per the filed lawsuit, Matus, present at the game to commemorate his 18th birthday, had firmly secured the ball with his left hand prior to Belanski’s intervention. The legal battle now aims to halt the auction, with Matus requesting the ball to be safeguarded in a mutually agreed secure location until a legal verdict is reached.
Disregarding Matus’s legal maneuvers, Goldin Auctions, based in New Jersey and responsible for the sale of the ball, intends to forge ahead with the auction proceedings. Despite Matus seeking a temporary restraining order to pause the auction, a Miami judge denied the request, allowing the auction to unfold as planned.
In response to the lawsuit, Goldin Auctions released a statement to ESPN stating that despite reviewing the allegations and evidence presented in the lawsuit, the auction of the Ohtani 50th home run ball will proceed as scheduled.
The legal showdown is set to escalate, with the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County slated to consider Matus’s case before the auction concludes on October 16. If successful, Matus might be eligible to receive a portion of the sales proceeds from the ball.
CEO of Goldin Auctions, Ken Goldin, disclosed that Belanski swiftly reached out to the auction house on the day following Ohtani’s record-breaking performance to arrange the sale of the ball. Reports indicate that the Los Angeles Dodgers had offered Belanski a substantial $300,000 for the ball, a proposition he declined in favor of entering it into an auction.
The auction commences with a tempting “buy-it-now” price tag of $4.5 million, accessible until October 9. In the event that bids soar to $3 million before the specified date, the buy-it-now alternative will be quashed, shifting the focus to competitive bidding through October 16.
The unfolding auction drama, coupled with Matus’s legal intervention, adds an intriguing layer of complexity to this high-stakes sale of a historical sports artifact. With collectors, baseball aficionados, and legal experts closely monitoring the evolving situation, the suspense surrounding the fate of Ohtani’s 50th home run ball continues to captivate a wide audience.
