In 18 days, a few hours, and some minutes, the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball auction will officially begin.
Shohei Ohtani, a renowned Japanese baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, reached new levels of fame after becoming the first player in baseball history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. Regarded as one of the greatest moments in baseball history, the baseball has gained significance amongst fans.
Chris Belanski, the lucky individual to leave the game with possession of the 50/50 ball, posted the item to Goldin Auctions website, with its bidding currently listed at $1.5 million.
However, the possession of the ball is being fought over by three different fans.
On September 25th, Max Matus, an 18-year old baseball fan in Florida, filed a lawsuit against Belanski, another fan, and Goldin Auctions, claiming to be rightful owner of the now prized baseball.
The already complicated case grew as a second fan, Joseph Davidov, filed a lawsuit as well, claiming that he had initial possession of the ball while it was still on the ground, when a fan jumped over the railing and into him, causing the ball to roll loose into the hands of Belanski.
Although the bidding is currently live, the ball cannot be sold until after the court rules on the lawsuits at hand.
“This ball will probably eventually become the most expensive ball in baseball history to be sold there,” said Varun Soni, member of the State Bar of California and faculty at USC. “We’re talking this could be a $3 million bounty on this ball.”
The 50/50 ball is one of the most coveted items of a unique tradition in sports culture.
“That’s part of the culture of a baseball game… to chase down balls that get hit into the park. And there are people who go to games just to get these balls,” Soni said.
While these lawsuits drive fans’ attention to this historical artifact, they also drive an important question into the future of baseball.
Soni describes how “the template moving forward in the world of baseball, the general rule of the legal system is possession is nine tenths of the law. So…whoever has possession basically owns it. In this particular case, there are three people who claim possession.”
With three individuals claiming possession of the ball, the future of where 50/50 will end up is unknown.
Soni says that the actions surrounding the 50/50 ball could set a negative precedent for stadium culture.
“We don’t want to incentivize bad conduct because of the potential reward,” Soni said. “And in fact, if you look online, some of the most heartwarming videos…you’ll see on social media are videos of adults who catch a ball and then give it to the kid next door next to them.”