Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers' unicorn of the diamond, is not just rewriting record books; he's turning his feats into gold—at least for one lucky fan. As reported by NBC Los Angeles, the ball smacked by Ohtani for his milestone 50th home run of the season, a feat that also crowned him as the first MLB player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, will be auctioned off starting with a hefty price tag of $500,000.
According to KTLA, the baseball, authenticated with a league hologram and carrying an option to outright purchase for $4.5 million, is being handled by Goldin, a high-profile auction house. In a game that saw Ohtani go 6-for-6 with an eye-popping 10 RBI, the historical import of the ball is not in question, nor is its sought-after status among memorabilia collectors.
While a frenzy surrounds the retrieval of the storied ball, which ultimately ends up with a fan rejecting several substantial buy-out offers from MLB entities, the intrigue now heads to the auction block. The individual who possessed the ball, whose identity has been left undisclosed, had it authenticated promptly by MLB officials with a hologram sticker, as mentioned by CBS News Los Angeles.
"Ohtani is truly one-of-a-kind, and the 50-50 record may be his crowning achievement," Ken Goldin, Founder and CEO of Goldin, described in his glowing terms about the auction item to ABC7. The auction company CEO highlighted the importance of timing in selling such valuable memorabilia, echoing sentiments about striking while the iron's hot. If the bidding crosses the $3 million threshold, the private purchase option will go bye-bye, per Goldin's rules, as detailed by CBS News Los Angeles.
The record-setting ball has a starting bid of $500,000 when the auction kicks off Friday and will remain active until mid-October, provided a whale doesn't swallow it whole with a $4.5 million private buyout before that deadline. While the chances of Ohtani reaching an even more astronomical 60-60 club are slim with only a handful of games left, as indicated by KTLA, collectors are hovering, ready for the bidding war of a lifetime over a ball that crystallizes an undisputedly remarkable achievement.
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