Shohei Ohtani 50-50 home run ball auctions at record-shattering $4.4 million after last-minute flurry of bids

Shohei Ohtani made history in 2024 with a 50-50 season. His 50th home run ball just made history, too.

The auction for the baseball that sealed the first 50-homer, 50-stolen base season in MLB history ended Tuesday at Goldin Auctions at a listed price of $3.6 million. With a 22% buyer's premium added, the full price comes out to $4.392 million.

That shatters the record for the most expensive baseball ever sold at auction, beating the $3.005 million brought in by Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball (a figure that includes the buyer's premium).

Goldin's website also mentions a 0.9% insurance fee and a shipping fee of $19. Apparently, breaking a two-decade-old record doesn't get you free shipping and handling.

Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 ball saw 15 bids in the final night

Bidding began at $500,000 on Sept. 27, with a total of 40 bids coming in for the ball. The price stood at $2.1 million for the final two days, until two bids — for $2.2 million, then $2.3 million — came in the final three minutes of bidding Tuesday. That triggered an extended window in which 15 more bids came in, pushing the price to $3.6 million.

The bidders kept trying to wait until the last minute to put in their new price, but each bid reset the clock to 30 minutes. It was basically a rich version of eBay users trying to jump in at the last minute for a baseball card.

The bidding finally ended at 9:26 p.m. PT, nearly two-and-a-half hours after it was scheduled to conclude.

The total also handily beats the $1.5 million spent on Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball in 2022, which received a private $3 million offer before the auction.

In MLB's century-plus of history, Ohtani's accomplishment in 2024 stands out as one of the greatest the league has seen in a single season, with the sold ball serving as the focal point.

After joining the Dodgers on a record $700 million contract, Ohtani exceeded all expectations in his first season, first with the fastest 40-40 season of all time and then by reaching a threshold that seemed mythical before this season. And Ohtani didn't just reach 50-50; he got there with one of the greatest single-game performances ever. On Sept. 19, 2024, at Marlins Park, Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals, two doubles, four runs scored and 10 RBI.

Ohtani's regular season ended at 54 homers and 59 steals, with his postseason performance still ongoing. Game 1 of the World Series begins at 5:08 p.m. PT Friday in Los Angeles (Fox).

Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 ball has been the subject of lawsuits

The 50-50 ball's path from Ohtani's bat to the auction house was a little more eventful than usual.

First, one Marlins fan came tantalizingly close to grabbing it. Then, there was the scramble that led to the eventual seller, Chris Belanski, getting his hands on it and not letting go. With even conservative estimates of the ball's value coming in at six figures, those fans knew life-changing money was at stake.

When a ball is caught at an MLB game, it becomes the legal property of the fan who caught it (or picked it up). The Dodgers attempted to procure the historic ball, but Belanski, understandably, opted to take the ball with him and see what he could get at auction.

A small legal battle then came out about whether that seller actually deserved the ball, as 18-year-old fan Max Matus subsequently filed suit claiming that Belanski forcibly took it away from him. Claiming to be the ball's rightful owner, the teenager demanded the auction be stopped and the ball be held at a secure location as the legal process played out.

Another lawsuit was filed by one Joseph Davidov, who claimed a fan wrongfully jumped over a railing and attacked him, causing the ball to come out of his hands. That's three different people publicly claiming to be the rightful owners of the ball.

Goldin opted to go ahead with its auction despite that litigation, so it remains to be seen how much of the record-breaking money Belanski will come away with when all is said and done.