Shohei Ohtani's 50th HR Ball to Be Sold at Auction; Opening Bid Set at $500K

The Shohei Ohtani 50th home run ball will be auctioned off by Goldin with a starting bid of $500,000.

Ken Goldin, who is Goldin's Founder and CEO, broke the news on Wednesday.

Bidding opens at noon ET on Friday and closes on Oct. 16. There is a private sale opportunity as well: a bidder can purchase the baseball for $4.5 million up until Oct. 9 so long as bidding does not reach $3 million.

Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to amass 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season during a 20-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday, Sept. 19. He had three home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases in a 6-for-6 day. His second homer gave him 50 on the year and allowed him to hit the 50-50 mark.

The anonymous fan who grabbed the 50th home run ball in Miami's LoanDepot Park was reportedly offered $300,000 by the Dodgers, per Andy Slater of Fox Sports 640. That fan turned down the offer and went to Goldin to put the ball up for auction.

"This was one of the easiest [consignments] ever," Goldin told ESPN's Dan Hajducky. "Ohtani [hits 50] on Thursday, literally Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard down to Miami on Monday with a representative from Goldin, met him, flew back Monday."

The ball, which has been authenticated by MLB, is going up for auction quickly for good reason.

"My viewpoint was that the auction route as quickly as possible was the best," Goldin told ESPN. "It's timely; the Dodgers going to the playoffs, Ohtani is easily going to be the Most Valuable Player, let's do this while Ohtani is on everybody's mind -- and, what was also very important to the consigner, is the worldwide and global reach that both Goldin and eBay have. It's certainly possible someone outside the United States is going to win this baseball."

Ohtani is now up to 53 home runs and 55 stolen bases with five games remaining. He's also hit .301 with a 1.024 OPS.