A baseball hit over the fence by Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani for a record-breaking home run has set another record with its $4.4 million sale at auction this week.
Where the cash ends up will depend on the resolution of litigation over the ball’s ownership.
Shohei Ohtani smashed the homer against the Miami Marlins at their stadium just a few weeks ago.
The 7th inning hit, on September 19, sealed a unique achievement for the 30-year-old Japanese star: 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
The sale is believed to set a new record as the most expensive sports ball ever sold at auction. It surpassed the previous high set in 1999 when Todd McFarlane (the comic artist and founder of Image Comics) paid $3 million for the ball Mark McGwire swatted for his 1998 record-setting 70th home run for the St Louis Cardinals.
The Ohtani ball was caught in the stands, and sold via Goldin Auctions.
The sale opened on September 27, demanding an opening bid of $500,000.
CEO of Goldin Auctions, Ken Goldin, said: “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.”
It’s definitely been hit, and the sticker with hologram authenticates the ball as the one Ohtani thwacked last month.
The buyer has not been named.
And who the seller is in dispute.
The ball was sent to Goldin by Christian Zacek, who took it home from the game. However, two other spectators (Max Matus and Joseph Davidov) are both claiming they got to the ball first. Goldin describe the scenes as the ball entered a dining area as “a frenzy”.
The sale went ahead with the permission of all three men, who are fighting out the ownership issue in court.
Ohtani and his team have other things on their mind as they prepare for this week’s opening game of the World Series against the New York Yankees.
The ball has been authenticated via the Major League Baseball hologram that is on all official balls.
Mr Goldin told ESPN: “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.”
Baseball is a big-money game for collectors. Anything to do with the right player and the right moment can make huge money.
Earlier this year a shirt worn by Babe Ruth in which he “called the shot” and predicted where he would strike the next ball sold for a world record for any sports item of $24.1 million.
Because home-run balls can become extremely valuable artefacts there is case law on their ownership. A dispute over a Barry Bonds record-setting home run ball from 2003 ended up dividing ownership of the ball between the man who first caught it, and the man who ended up with it.
A Law Review article says: “A ball is caught if the person has achieved complete control of the ball at the point in time that the momentum of the ball and the momentum of the fan while attempting to catch the ball ceases.”
Three men will eventually find out which of them achieved that.
