Ohtani 50/50 ball auction to proceed amid dispute
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Dan Hajducky, ESPN
An agreement reached Monday over the fate of the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball will allow the auction of that ball to proceed while the legal dispute over its ownership continues.
According to a statement from Goldin Auctions and lawyers for plaintiffs in the case, the agreement allows the auction house to continue receiving bids for the ball. Bidding as of Monday was $1.5 million, or $1.83 million with a buyer’s premium. The money eventually paid for the ball will be placed in an account until the pending ownership litigation is resolved. Bidding is scheduled to close Oct. 22.
Two lawsuits have challenged who owns the ball. Max Matus, 18, filed a civil lawsuit in late September claiming he had possession of the ball and asking for a temporary injunction to halt the auction. Judge Spencer Eig of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court did not grant the injunction. Instead, he scheduled an Oct. 10 hearing and ordered that the ball couldn’t be sold before that date. Then a second fan, Joseph Davidov, filed suit claiming he was the rightful owner of the ball.
Goldin Auctions, in a statement Monday, said the parties involved in litigation agreed that the auction could continue as planned, “without any interference by the pending litigation.” Goldin Auctions said, under the agreement, “all parties want the 50/50 ball to be auctioned by Goldin, and have agreed to convey any and all of their ownership interests in the 50/50 ball to the winner of the auction, giving the winner full assurance that they will receive free and clear title to the 50/50 ball.”
A lawyer with the firm representing Matus confirmed the agreement, which was discussed during a brief hearing Monday in the Florida courtroom. Devon Workman of Workman Injury Law, representing Davidov, also confirmed the details of the agreement to ESPN.
Last week, ESPN asked several legal experts and lawyers involved in previous legal battles over home run ball ownership what issues might arise with Goldin putting the Ohtani ball up for auction while legal disputes play out. Those experts said controversy could affect the potential sale price and raise questions about the eventual clear title of the ball.
“It’s difficult to try to figure out how to proceed, there’s no perfect way,” attorney John Uustal of the Kelley-Uustal law firm in Florida, which represents Matus, told ESPN. “The auction will proceed and whoever wins will have free and clear title. The dispute over ownership will continue in a regular lawsuit instead of an abbreviated, emergency fashion. The downside is the ball is going to get sold. It’s the best way forward, all the parties agreed. … [Judge Eig] asked us to get together to talk about it. [This] just resolves whether the auction can proceed; the lawsuit was still going to proceed either way. There’s still got to be a full lawsuit with a jury trial over ownership.”
With the auction agreement, the Oct. 10 hearing was canceled.
Both Davidov’s and Matus’s lawsuits say their respective plans would have been to keep the ball as a keepsake.
“We’re grateful for the trust and support of all parties regarding the auction of the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 ball,” Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, said in a statement.
As of Monday, the $1.83 million sum for the Ohtani ball would rank it as the second most expensive baseball auctioned, beating Aaron Judge‘s 62nd home run ball from the 2022 season, which sold for $1.5 million in late 2022.
TORONTO — Blue Jays outfielder George Springer skipped into third base on a key RBI hit by teammate Alejandro Kirk, and hopped right into an inning-ending out in the fifth on Sunday against the Athletics.
Springer was called out following a replay review after Athletics third baseman Max Schuemann alertly kept his glove on the Blue Jays right fielder while Springer hopped up and down on third base.
Springer, who had reached on an RBI single that opened the scoring for Toronto, was celebrating Kirk’s double that cut the deficit to 3-2.
The out call meant Toronto slugger Addison Barger didn’t get to bat with runners at second and third.
Schuemann had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, taking over for Miguel Andujar.
The Athletics had lost five straight and 16 of 17 entering Sunday.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Slumping Rangers slugger Adolis García was held out of Texas’ lineup for the third consecutive day Sunday, with president of baseball operations Chris Young saying the club wants the 2023 ALCS MVP to make some mechanical changes.
“We need him to kind of commit to some of these changes that we think will get him back to the ’23 version of himself and help him be the player that we know he can be,” Young said before Texas’ series finale against St. Louis.
García is hitting .155 in the past 20 games with 25 strikeouts. He is hitting .208 overall, with seven homers and a team-high 27 RBIs for a Rangers club that has struggled offensively. He ranked 14th in the majors with 122 home runs over the past four seasons.
García, who has started 55 of Texas’ 60 games in right field this season, missed only one other game before this weekend, with manager Bruce Bochy saying Friday that García was being given a mental break.
“It’s about the mental reset and coming back with more energy,” García told reporters Saturday. “I’m working on some stuff without the pressure of having to do something up there.”
García, 32, is in the final season of a two-year contract.
The anticipated return of Evan Carter to the active roster Tuesday, joining Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna and Sam Haggerty, further crowds the Rangers outfield as García tries to return to the lineup.
“It’s going to be performance-driven at this point,” Young said.
Texas also made three roster moves before Sunday’s game. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (triceps fatigue) was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Thursday, catcher Tucker Barnhart was designated for assignment, and right-hander Codi Heuer was selected from Triple-A Round Rock.
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