Dan Hajducky, ESPN
The coveted Shohei Ohtani 50/50 dwelling run ball has been consigned to collectibles market Goldin and bidding will start Friday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star is the one participant in baseball historical past to hit 50 dwelling runs and steal 50 bases in the identical season. He hit three dwelling runs and stole two bases in the identical recreation in opposition to the Miami Marlins on Sept. 19 to realize baseball historical past.
“This was one of the easiest [consignments] ever,” Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, instructed ESPN. “Ohtani [hits 50] on Thursday, literally Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard down to Miami on Monday with a representative from Goldin, met him, flew back Monday.”
Currently, the consigner is selecting to stay nameless, although footage of him have surfaced on-line. Goldin says he did not converse to a different public sale home: “This is one of those cases where our reputation for getting the absolute highest price on hot-market items [came] into play … honestly, we had no competition at all.”
Fox Sports 640's Andy Slater reported that the Dodgers initially provided the fan who caught Ohtani's fiftieth dwelling run ball $300,000. The Dodgers couldn't be reached for remark by ESPN. Goldin confirmed “there was an offer by the Dodgers and he turned it down.”
The opening bid with Goldin, now owned by eBay, is $500,000. Prospective consumers “will have a chance to purchase the baseball outright for $4,500,000 exclusively between September 27 to October 9; if bidding reaches $3,000,000 prior to October 9 however, the option to purchase privately will no longer be available, and interested parties must compete and bid for the baseball.”
Extended bidding begins at 10 p.m. ET on Oct. 16.
“My viewpoint was that the auction route as quickly as possible was the best,” Goldin mentioned. “It's timely; the Dodgers going to the playoffs, Ohtani is easily going to be the Most Valuable Player, let's do this while Ohtani is on everybody's mind — and, what was also very important to the consigner, is the worldwide and global reach that both Goldin and eBay have. It's certainly possible someone outside the United States is going to win this baseball.”
The ball exhibits black scuffing and floor abrasions. The panel under the “Official Major League Baseball” stamping comprises a scuffed-up MLB Batter Logo and affixed to the baseball is an MLB authenticated hologram.
The present document paid for a baseball is the $3.05 million paid for Mark McGwire's seventieth dwelling run ball in 1999 by comedian ebook creator and McFarlane Toys empire magnate Todd McFarlane. McFarlane instructed The Athletic in 2022 that he owns Barry Bonds' 73rd from the 2001 season in addition to Sammy Sosa's 66th from 1999.
In late 2022, additionally with Goldin, Aaron Judge's American League record-breaking 62nd dwelling run ball bought for $1.5 million. Seller Cory Youmans caught Judge's document breaker at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, turned down a $3 million supply for the ball, and put it up for public sale. The $1.5 million paid for Judge's 62nd remains to be the second-most-expensive baseball ever bought at public sale.
“Ohtani is a unique athlete, I believe, the likes of which have never been seen in baseball before and may never be seen in baseball again,” Goldin mentioned. “This is a guy who can steal 60 bases while at the same time, winning the Triple Crown, [and] let's not forget that when he's healthy, he's a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.
“So, I feel, as a person, he is so extremely distinctive and such an otherworldly expertise. [He's] the whole bundle and taking part in in Hollywood. This is the right situation, he is the right baseball participant, and he'll be the face of Major League Baseball for the following 10-plus years. What he can accomplish between now and when he retires could by no means be matched once more.”
