Judge denies attempt to stop auction of Ohtani 50/50 ball

Goldin Auctions is moving ahead with its planned auction of the coveted Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball following a Florida judge’s ruling Thursday.

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

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

“The judge asked us to try to work it out,” Uustal of the Florida law firm Kelley-Uustal told ESPN. “We asked for an emergency measure and said, ‘If the ball is sold, there is no way to put the horse back in the stable and make it disappear’ – and there would be irreparable damage, so we want to enforce the status quo.”

Uustal said the auction house wanted to start the auction on Friday and keep the scheduled end date of October 16, but that the judge was willing to hold a full hearing before the end of the auction.

“So as long as it was absolutely clear that the ball could not actually be sold — which it is now, by order of the court — until after this hearing, we were okay with that,” Uustal said. “So I think everyone is protected now. The court will make a ruling on October 10 based on our evidence.”

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

The Matus lawsuit alleges that Chris Belanski “wrongfully and forcibly” obtained possession of the ball from Matus in the stands and that Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez indicated on social media their plans to sell the ball. Belanski and Ramirez are both named in the lawsuit.

Matus’ lawsuit said that on September 19, he was at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida celebrating 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. According to the suit, he was standing near 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 planned to keep it.

Matus says that “a muscular, older man” wedged his arm “between his legs and wrenched the 50/50 ball out of Max’s left hand.” According to the lawsuit, Matus was the rightful owner of the ball before it was “forcibly taken from him” by Belanski.

“If Defendants are allowed to sell the 50/50 ball, Plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm 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 not recoverable and no monetary damages will be sufficient to replace it,” the lawsuit reads.

A video of the moment the ball ended up in the stands was posted on social media.

Belanski and Ramirez could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit requested that the ball be kept in a secure location mutually agreed upon by both parties, pending the outcome of the trial.

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

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 Marlins on September 19, making baseball history.