An 18-year-old teen from Florida has filed a lawsuit to prevent the sale of Shohei Ohtani's historic 50-50 home run ball, claiming he is the rightful owner. The ball is expected to fetch millions at auction. Max Matus, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, alleges that he caught the ball in the stands at LoanDepot Park in Miami on September 19, when Ohtani hit his 50th home run of the season. He claims that he was forcefully taken away from the ball by a "muscular, older man" identified as a defendant.
Lawsuit
The lawsuit seeks to block the auction and requests that the ball be kept in a secure, mutually agreed-upon location until the litigation is resolved. Goldin Auctions, the auction house handling the sale, has been named as a defendant in the lawsuit but has not yet commented on the matter.
This is the latest development in the saga of Ohtani's 50-50 home run ball. Earlier this week, it was reported that the ball had been stolen from a hotel room in Los Angeles. The ball was later recovered by the police, but the identity of the thief is still unknown.
The Ohtani 50-50 home run ball is expected to be one of the most valuable baseball memorabilia items ever sold. It is the first ball in MLB history to be hit by a player who has also stolen 50 bases in the same season.
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John Uustal, founding partner in the law firm representing Matus told CNN “This is not some scrum on a football field where the law doesn’t apply because the players have voluntarily agreed that they are allowed to hit each other. In the stands, once someone has the ball, it’s not legal for someone to take it. Max is a high school kid, it was his birthday. A bigger stronger adult can’t take the ball away and pretend it’s his."
However, a few seconds later, the filing claims, Chris Belanski – one of three named defendants in the lawsuit as well as Goldin and Kelvin Ramirez trapped Matus’ “arm in between his legs and wrangled the 50/50 Ball out of Max’s left hand.
“In so doing, Belanski wrongfully and forcefully obtained control of the ball and was escorted out of the stands by security, with the 50/50 Ball Plaintiff had possessed now in Belanski’s (wrongful) possession," The filing adds.
Both Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez indicated on social media that they intended to sell the ball, per the filing.
According to the lawsuit, Matus would be “irreparably harmed” if the 50/50 ball is able to be sold, as it is a “unique one-of-a-kind item that cannot be replaced. Once the 50/50 Ball is sold, (Matus) will likely be unable to get it back and no monetary damages will be adequate to replace it.”
Shohei Ohtani's 50-50
Shohei Ohtani made baseball history by becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star needed just one stolen base and two home runs to reach this milestone, and he accomplished it during a 20-4 victory over the Miami Marlins. Ohtani stole third base in the first inning, marking the first part of his achievement. He followed that up with another steal, bringing his total to 51, and then hit his 49th home run in the sixth inning, tying the Dodgers' single-season record set by Shawn Green in 2001. He then hit his 50th home run in the next inning, officially becoming the first player to achieve the 50-50 feat.
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