Judge denies trying to stop Ohtani 50/50 ball auction

Goldin Auctions will proceed 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 claims to be the rightful owner of the ball, filed a civil complaint Wednesday seeking a temporary injunction to halt the auction, which is scheduled to open Friday.

Matus’ attorney, John Uustal, said Thursday that the auction would begin Friday, but that the judge had scheduled a full evidentiary hearing for Oct. 10 and the Ohtani ball could not be sold before then.

“The judge asked us to try to find a solution,” Uustal, of the Kelley-Uustal law firm in Florida, told ESPN. “We were asking for an emergency injunction, saying, ‘If the ball is sold, there’s no way we can put the horse back in the stable and make it disappear’ – and there would be irreparable harm, so we We want to maintain the status quo.”

Uustal said the auction house wanted to start bidding Friday and maintain the scheduled end date of Oct. 16, but that the judge was willing to hold a full hearing before the auction ended.

“So as long as it was absolutely clear that the ball could not be sold – which is now the case, by court ruling – before this hearing, we were OK with that,” Uustal said. “So I think everyone is protected now. The court will make its decision based on our evidence on October 10.”

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

The Matus lawsuit claims that Chris Belanski “wrongfully and forcefully” obtained possession of the ball from Matus in the stands and that Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez indicated on social media their intention to sell the ball. Both Belanski and Ramirez are named in the lawsuit.

Matus’ lawsuit said that on September 19, he was at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, celebrating his 18th birthday and had recorded the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins on his phone when Ohtani hit his 50th home run. The suit says he was standing near the fence in left field when he saw the ball coming toward him. When he went to try to retrieve it, the suit says, he “managed to catch it” in his left hand and intended to keep it.

Matus says “a muscular, older man” then jammed his arm “between his legs and snatched the 50/50 ball out of Max’s left hand.” The suit says Matus was the rightful owner of the ball before it was “forcibly taken away” from him by Belanski.

“If Defendants are permitted to sell the 50/50 Ball, Plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm because the 50/50 Ball is a one-of-a-kind item that cannot be replaced. Once the 50/50 Ball is sold, the plaintiff will likely be unable to recover it and no monetary damages will be sufficient to replace it,” the lawsuit states.

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

Belanski and Ramirez could not be reached for comment.

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

The opening bid with 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 to make baseball history.