Goldin Auctions announced Monday it had a reached an agreement with all three parties who say they are the rightful owners of Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball, a deal that will allow the auction to proceed without any concerns over the pending litigation.
Under the agreement, the ball — which sits at $1.83 million with a little more than 15 days left in the bidding — will be auctioned off to the highest bidder Oct. 22. The winner will then have clear title to the ball.
The three parties will continue their litigation to determine where the proceeds of the auction will end up.
"I'm very happy this was resolved," Goldin founder Ken Goldin told cllct. "This ensures that we have an uninterrupted auction, and that the winning bidder will get unencumbered title."
Goldin said no money changed hands to make this agreement, which was filed to the court.
RELATED STORIES:
- Second lawsuit filed over Shohei Ohtani 50th home run ball
- Shohei Ohtani 50th HR ball auction tops $1.8 million
- Shohei Ohtani 50th HR ball will head to auction amid lawsuit
- Fan files lawsuit to stop auction of Shohei Ohtani's 50th HR ball
- 'Took the ball from my hand': Inside the fight for Shohei Ohtani's $1m home run ball
- Shohei Ohtani rookie card sells for record $336k
- Shohei Ohtani 50-50 Club card sells record 653k copies
- Shohei Ohtani becomes first to 50-50 with huge day: What is 50th HR ball worth?
- Shohei Ohtani rookie cards: A buying guide to Dodgers star's first collectibles
An in-court meeting — which could have potentially halted the auction — scheduled for Thursday in Miami with Christian Belanski, the man who wound up with the ball, and Max Matus, the 18-year-old who said he had the ball stolen from him, will no longer happen.
A third man named Joseph Davidoff filed a lawsuit Oct. 1 saying it was he who had the ball. It is not known when the next court hearing will be in either case.
Last week, the Ohtani ball, which has 19 bids, became the second-highest priced baseball of all-time, surpassing Aaron Judge's No. 62 home run ball in 2022, which was sold by Goldin for $1.5 million. The record for a home run baseball is Mark McGwire's No. 70, which sold for $3.05 million in 1999.
By selling the Ohtani ball now, the owner or owners (whomever that is deemed to be) will not lose the momentum of Ohtani mania surrounding his historic season.
That's what happened 23 years ago, when two men fought over Barry Bonds' 73rd home run. The ball was originally estimated to be worth $1.5 million, but the fighting shelved the sale by one and half years. When the ball sold, it sold for $450,000, which the two men equally split.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.