With Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball set to be auctioned online, a legal dispute arose over ownership of the ball. The auction will proceed as planned, but a court ruled that it cannot be sold until a set date.
“A fan who claims to be the real owner of Otani’s 50-50 Home Run Ball filed a civil suit asking for the auction to be suspended,” ESPN reported on Monday. “The 18-year-old Max Matters filed a lawsuit in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court seeking a temporary restraining order against the auction house, Goldin Auctions. Goldin plans to start a closed bidding for the ball tomorrow.”
“According to the Florida court’s decision, Goldin will hold an auction for Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball as scheduled,” the media said. “However, the court said it will hold a full evidence hearing on October 11, so the home run ball cannot be sold before then.”
Ohtani hit a two-run home run to left-center in the top of the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at Rondipo Park in Miami, Florida, on the 20th, reaching 50 homers and 50 steals of the season.
A dispute over ownership of the home run ball arose at a time when a male fan who picked it up at the time refused $300,000 offered by the Dodgers and decided to contact Goldin for an auction. It is said that two people are known to have requested the auction to Goldin, or the owner of the home run ball.
ESPN reported, “The lawsuit against Chris Bellanski and Kelvin Ramirez states that Bellanski obtained the ball by denying and coercing Matter from the stands. Bellanski and Ramirez said on social media that they plan to sell home run balls.”
Asked by ESPN about the lawsuit, Goldin said in a press release, “We are aware of the lawsuit. After reviewing the contents, photos and video clips of the game, we plan to proceed with the auction as planned. Our company name appears in the suit, but there is nothing wrong with Goldin.” This means that the two men who requested the auction had no problem with the ownership of the Home Run Ball and Goldin’s auction process.
According to ESPN, Matter visited Rondipo Park for his 18th birthday on the day of the game, and recorded Ohtani’s 50th home run while recording the game on his mobile phone. It is claimed that Matter was standing near the left fence and legally grabbed the ball with his left hand knowing that Ohtani’s ball was coming toward him.
However, a muscular adult man inserted Matter’s arm between his legs and stole the ball. So, the ball was legally owned by Matter until Vellanski took it. 먹튀검증
The lawsuit states, “If the defendant can sell a 50-50 home run ball, the plaintiff will suffer irreversible damage because the ball is a unique irreplaceable object. If the ball is sold, the plaintiff is very unlikely to get it back, so no financial damage is as great,” ESPN said.
According to ESPN, the home run ball is being kept in a safe place with the agreement of the litigants, and the trial schedule has not yet come out.
ESPN reported on the previous day, “The bidding price for this Home Run Ball that Goldin put out is 500,000 dollars. Those who want to buy it will have the opportunity to purchase it exclusively for 4.5 million dollars from Sept. 28 to Oct. 10. However, if it reaches 3 million dollars before Oct. 10, closed bidding will no longer be valid and stakeholders will have to compete openly for the Home Run Ball. The auction will then run until 1 p.m. on Oct. 16.
If someone calls for $4.5 million by October 10, the auction will end as it is, but if not, the auction will be extended by one week due to competition among those who have paid more than $3 million. If someone says they will buy the ball for $4.5 million, they can beat Mark Maguire’s 70th home run ball ($3.05 million) in 1998.