Shohei Ohtani: Fan files legal claim after 50-50 balls are auctioned

An 18-year-old baseball fan has filed a legal claim claiming he is the rightful owner of Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball after it went missing put up for auction.

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Ohtani made baseball history last Thursday by becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.

The 30-year-old reached the milestone in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 20-4 win at the Miami Marlins.

The following day, the Goldin auction house was contacted by an anonymous fan and the ball was subsequently put up for sale., external with a starting bid of $500,000 (£375,000) and an option to buy privately for $4.5m (£3.4m).

But Max Matus said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court that he grabbed the ball for Ohtani’s 50th home run and another fan snatched it out of his hand.

Matus said the ball was briefly in his possession before a man identified as Chris Belanski “wrapped his legs around Max’s arm and used his hands to snatch the ball from Max’s hand and stole it from himself.”

The lawsuit names Belanski Auction House and Kelvin Ramirez, who attended the game with Belanski, as defendants in the case.

The file contains photos taken by other fans that Matus says support his claim, including one showing Belanski presenting the ball to a stunned Matus.

Goldin told ESPN that the auction will continue after reviewing Matus’ claims.

“Max suffered irreparable harm due to the nature of the unique, irreplaceable 50-50 ball,” the lawsuit states. “There is no adequate legal remedy that can replace this unique and extraordinary 50-50 ball.”