Shohei Ohtani's historic 50th home run ball is being auctioned; starting bid is $500,000

The ball that flew into the left-field stands at loanDepot Park in Miami and made Shohei Ohtani the only member of MLB's 50-50 club will be auctioned this week.

Goldin, a New Jersey-based auction house, will open the auction for the historic baseball memorabilia on Friday. The starting bid is $500,000. Potential buyers have until Oct. 9, a week before the auction is scheduled to end, to bid on the ball for $4.5 million.

If the bid reaches $3 million before October 9, the $4.5 million buy-it-now option will be void.

The fan who got the ball contacted Goldin the day after Ohtani's record-setting night to finalize the deal, Goldin's CEO Ken Goldin told ESPN. According to Andy Slater of Fox Sports 640, the Dodgers offered the fan $300,000, but they declined.

“It's never easy to predict the auction price of a piece without considering comparable prices, but that's exactly what makes it the ideal auction piece,” Chris Ivy, head of sports collectibles at Heritage Auctions, told Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg earlier this month before Ohtani's historic blast.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star hit his 49th, 50th and 51st home runs and stole his 50th and 51st bases in a single game against the Miami Marlins on September 19, making history by going 6-for-6 with three home runs, two doubles, two steals, four runs scored and 10 RBIs in the Dodgers' 20-4 victory that earned Ohtani his first MLB playoff appearance.

Ohtani hasn't stopped since then. With five games left in the regular season, he has already hit 53 home runs and 55 stolen bases.

If the historic ball sells for more than $1 million, it would join a unique list of expensive home run balls. Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball in 1998 sold a year later for $3.05 million. Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball in 2022 sold for $1.5 million last year through Goldin. A home run ball hit by Babe Ruth's bat during the first MLB All-Star Game in 1933 sold for $805,000 in 2006.