Judge allows Ohtani 50/50 ball auction to go on

Goldin Auctions will proceed with its scheduled auction of the coveted Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball following a Florida judge’s ruling late Thursday.

Max Matus, an 18-year-old fan who says he is the rightful owner of the ball, had filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday seeking a temporary injunction to halt the auction, which is scheduled to open Friday.

Matus’s lawyer, John Uustal, said Thursday the auction will go live Friday, but that the judge scheduled a full evidentiary hearing for Oct. 10 and that the Ohtani ball cannot be sold before that date.

“The judge asked us to try to work it out,” Uustal, of the Kelley-Uustal law firm in Florida, told ESPN. “We were asking for an emergency injunctive relief, saying, ‘If the ball is sold, there’s no way to put the horse back in the barn and make disappear’ — and there would be irreparable harm, so, we want to maintain the status quo.”

Uustal said the auction house wanted to start the auction Friday and keep the scheduled end date, which is Oct. 16, but that the judge was willing to have a full hearing before the end of the auction.

“So, as long it was absolutely clear that the ball could not actually be sold — which it now is, by court order — until after this hearing, then we were agreeable to that,” Uustal said. “So, I think everybody’s protected now. The court’s going to make his ruling based on our evidence on Oct. 10.”

A spokesperson from Goldin told ESPN that the auction house is “excited to bring this item to the market.”

The Matus lawsuit, which also names Chris Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez, says Belanski “wrongfully and forcefully” obtained possession of the ball from Matus in the stands and that Belanski and Ramirez have indicated on social media their plans to sell the ball.

Matus’ lawsuit said that on Sept. 19, he was at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, to celebrate his 18th birthday and recording the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins on his phone when Ohtani hit his 50th home run. The suit says he was standing by the fence in left field when he saw the ball coming toward him. When he went to try to get it, the suit says, he “successfully grabbed” it in his left hand and intended to keep it.

Matus says “a muscular, older man” then trapped his arm “in between his legs and wrangled the 50/50 Ball out of Max’s left hand.” The suit says Matus was the rightful owner of the ball before it was “forcefully taken away from him” by Belanski.

“If defendants are allowed to sell the 50/50 Ball, Plaintiff will be irreparably harmed as the 50/50 Ball is a unique one-of-a-kind item that cannot be replaced. Once the 50/50 Ball is sold, Plaintiff will likely be unable to get it back and no monetary damages will be adequate to replace it,” the lawsuit reads.

The suit asked that the ball be kept in a secure location mutually agreed upon by both parties pending the outcome of the litigation.

Video of the moment the ball landed in the stands has been posted on social media.

The opening bid with Goldin, now owned by eBay, is $500,000.

Belanski and Ramirez could not be reached.

Ohtani is the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season. He hit three home runs and stole two bases in the same game against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 19 to achieve baseball history.