Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball up for auction with outrageous opening bid
By Joe Lago
Shohei Ohtani made history last week when he reached 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases this season with arguably the greatest single-game offensive performance ever. On Friday, the auction for the Los Angeles Dodgers star's 50th home run ball could set its own record.
Goldin, the high-end collectibles auction house, announced Thursday that the "Shohei Ohtani 50/50 Auction" will begin Friday at noon ET, with bidding for Ohtani's 50th homer ball beginning at $500,000.
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Goldin is offering a "private sale opportunity" until October 9 for the ball to be bought outside of the auction for $4.5 million. The option to purchase it outright will be removed if the auction has received a bid of $3 million or more by October 9.
The record for an auctioned baseball is $3.05 million, the amount paid for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball in 1999 by Todd McFarlane, the comic book creator and toys magnate who also owns Sammy Sosa's 66th home run ball in 1999 and Barry Bonds' 73rd home run ball in 2001.
Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of Goldin, unveiled Ohtani's 50th home run ball in a video posted on his company's X account, saying "It is the ball everyone is looking for and talking about."
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
— Goldin (@GoldinCo) September 25, 2024
It’s HERE. We got it! Presenting Shohei Ohtani’s 50th HOME RUN BASEBALL from his HISTORIC Game when he became the inaugural member of the 50/50 Club. ⚾️
This one-of-a-kind Baseball will be available in our special “Shohei Ohtani 50/50 Auction”, which Opens… pic.twitter.com/uIQviGUHdH
In a statement, Goldin called Ohtani "truly one-of-a-kind" and said his 50-50 status "may be his crowning achievement."
"We’re honored to bring this iconic item to collectors," Goldin said. "This is a piece of baseball history that fans and historians around the world will remember for decades to come.”
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