An 18-year-old who attended the historic Shohei Ohtani 50/50 game in Miami is suing over the ball.
Last week, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and grab 50 stolen bases in a season.
After his 50th home run, there was a scrum among fans for the ball.
In the best video of the struggle for the Ohtani 50th home run ball, it looks like the roughly 30-year age difference won out.
(Credit: Justin Walka) pic.twitter.com/mFl0GuXh08
— cllct (@cllctMedia) September 20, 2024
An 18-year-old celebrating his birthday at the game claims an older man ripped the ball from his hands.
“The ball bounced off the table, and it went under, and I grabbed it,” Max Matus told cllct the day after the incident. “Then the other guy had my hand between his legs holding my arm and took the ball from my hand.”
With the ball being auctioned off by Goldin auctions with the starting price at $500k on Friday, the 18-year-old has filed a lawsuit against the older man.
The 18-year-old is now suing to prevent the auction from taking place because he believes he had the ball stolen from his hands.
Attorneys for 18-year-old Max Matus filed a lawsuit against Goldin and the man who emerged with the ball, Chris Belanski, and his friend who is marketing the ball, Kelvin Ramirez, saying the ball was in fact Matus’ first. The suit was filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Dade County, Florida.
The suit says Matus was able to “firmly grab the ball in his left hand, successfully obtaining possession of the 50-50 ball.”
Belanski, who had remained anonymous before the lawsuit, “wrapped his legs around Max’s arm and used his hands to wrangle the ball out of Max’s hands, stealing the ball for himself,” the suit claims. Belanski then had the ball authenticated by Major League Baseball before the leaving the ballpark with the piece of history.
As support, the suit offers still photos of a video that shows the interaction between the two, though the images lack clarity to show Matus had his hand on the ball.