The Most Expensive Baseball... Otani's 50th Home Run Ball Sold for 6 Billion Won

Fierce Competition to Obtain Ohtani's 50th Home Run Ball

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani stepped up to the plate for the first time in an away game against the Colorado Rockies on June 18 (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Shohei Ohtani (30, Los Angeles Dodgers), the first player in Major League Baseball history to achieve '50 home runs - 50 stolen bases,' had his 50th home run ball sold for a record-breaking price.

According to Japanese media Sports Nippon Annex on the 23rd, Ohtani's 50th home run ball was auctioned for $4,392,000 (approximately 6.0658 billion KRW). The auction was originally scheduled to close at 11 a.m. that day, but due to fierce competition to obtain Ohtani's home run ball, the auction ended around 1:26 p.m.

The previous highest auction price in baseball history was for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball in 1999, which sold for $3.05 million (approximately 4.05 billion KRW). However, Ohtani's home run ball surpassed this amount by a large margin, setting a new record for the highest price ever paid for a baseball at auction.

[Image source=Gold Auction homepage]

Earlier, on the 20th of last month, Ohtani started as the designated hitter in the visiting game against the 2024 MLB Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. In the top of the 6th inning, with a 7-3 lead, he hit his 49th home run, and in the top of the 7th inning, extending the lead to 12-3, he recorded his 50th home run. Having already reached 50 stolen bases in the previous at-bat, Ohtani set a new MLB record as the first player to achieve the 50-50 milestone.

Ohtani's 50th home run ball flew over the left field fence. About 10 spectators competed to catch the ball, and one man picked it up after it fell under a table. Ownership of the ball is currently under legal dispute between the person who claims to have caught it in the stands first and the current possessor. They were reportedly offered $300,000 by the Dodgers to sell the ball but declined.

[Image source=Gold Auction homepage]

Meanwhile, Ohtani, known as a 'superstar of baseball,' debuted in the major leagues in 2018 as a two-way player. He hit 22 home runs in 2018 and 18 in 2019. In 2020, due to injury, he played only 46 games and hit 7 home runs, but he demonstrated consistent skill by hitting 46 home runs in 2021, 34 in 2022, and 44 last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.