Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball is already set to be auctioned and could fetch a pretty hefty sum.
The ball, which will likely be the main focus of hundreds of collectors, has been consigned to auction house Goldin and listed at a starting opening price of $500,000.
Goldin said the owner of the ball reached out to them just one day after Ohtani became the first player in history to smash 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
“This was one of the easiest (consignments) ever,” founder and CEO Ken Goldin told ESPN’s Dan Hajducky. “Ohtani (hits 50) on Thursday, literally Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard down to Miami on Monday with a representative from Goldin, met him, flew back Monday.”
Dodgers Tried Buying Shohei Ohtani’s HR Ball From The Lucky Fan Who Caught It
Shohei Ohtani hit the 50-50 mark during his team’s 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins on September 19, finishing the contest 6-for-6 with 10 RBIs.
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While the auction is set to start this Friday, anyone coveting the ball can buy it right away for $4.5 million from September 27 to October 9. Should bidding reach $3 million before October 9, the private sale option will expire.
The fan who caught Ohtani’s 50th home run ball was offered $300,000 by the Dodgers but refused it. Goldin confirmed that “there was an offer by the Dodgers, and he turned it down.”
The most expensive baseball ever sold went for a whopping $3.05 million in 1999, with comic book creator Todd McFarlane forking out the aforementioned sum for Mark McGwire’s 70th HR ball.
It will be interesting to see what Shohei Ohtani’s will go for.
