A baseball just sold for millions of dollars. That being said, this isn’t just any old ball: The record-breaking bid was for Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball—which was also the first time ever that a baseball player hit 50 dingers and stole 50 bases in the same season.
Baseball has been around since the late 1800s, so that’s saying something.
The winning bid went for $4.392 million. This surpassed the previous high for Mark McGwire’s 70th homer back in the 1998 season that sold for $3 million. Ohtani’s historic moment came on Sept. 19.
Goldin Auctions was responsible for the auction and, due to company procedures, didn’t specify who the buyer was. The company’s founder, Ken Goldin, said bids were received from around the world.
In addition to the milestone this piece of baseball history represents, it has a wild backstory that may or may not have upped the ante on the bidding process. There was a whole legal battle over the ownership of the ball after it was caught.
An 18-year-old kid, Max Matus, reportedly caught the homer at the game. Another adult, Christian Zacek, allegedly finagled his way into stealing the ball right after it was caught. The two parties have an ongoing lawsuit over being the rightful owner. According to CNN, an agreement was reached between all parties involved, including Goldin, that the auction can carry on as is amid the lawsuit.
If you’re wondering, Goldin worked with Zacek initially on setting up the auction so who knows how much everyone involved will be getting.
The drama behind the scenes really started the second the ball landed. But it seems like all parties are content with what they settled on, which means the lucky person—I guess that’s what we’ll call them—who spent more than $4 million will not have to worry whether the ball is rightfully theirs or not.
Money talks after all!
The post Shohei Ohtani’s 50th Home Run Ball Sells for Record-Shattering $4.39 Million, Amid Controversy appeared first on VICE.
The post Shohei Ohtani’s 50th Home Run Ball Sells for Record-Shattering $4.39 Million, Amid Controversy appeared first on VICE.
