The home run ball that gave Shohei Ohtani sole membership in the 50-50 club cleared the left field fence at Marlins park in Miami
and landed on a grassy strip. The person who could get to it first held not only history—but one heck of a valuable piece of sports memorabilia.
Ohtani’s history making blast early Thursday evening—his second of the day and one of his six hits– made him the first player in history to record 50 stolen bases and 50 homers. Incredibly, it was the second of three homers he hit in the game.
SHOHEI OHTANI HAS DONE IT
50 HOME RUNS | 50 STOLEN BASES
HISTORY pic.twitter.com/GRVJUCbpja
— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2024
The 50th home run ball bounced off a fan in a teal shirt…
Bro fumbled Ohtani’s 50-50 ball 😭 pic.twitter.com/LzT11n0chM
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 19, 2024
…and onto the ground where at least two fans dove toward it. A fan in a dark colored shirt scooped up the ball as fans behind him cheered.
Another angle…
Shohei Ohtani’s 50/50 HR Ball had fans dog piling in Miami @StoolBaseball
pic.twitter.com/VXgUg4z8x5— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 20, 2024
Afterward, he was escorted under the stands by security personnel.
The lucky person who caught Ohtani’s 50-th homerun ball was immediately escorted out by security – presumably for safety reason. https://t.co/C9XYVkCHuE
— Satoshi Sugiyama (@SatoshiJournal) September 20, 2024
As Ohtani approached his 50th homer and 50th stolen base, Major League Baseball began marking each ball with a special ink to ensure authentication.
In 2022, the ball Aaron Judge hit for his 62nd home run brought $1.5 million at auction. The one hit by Albert Pujols in 2022 for the 700th of his career netted $360,000. The Ohtani ball could fetch at least $500,000 according to SCP Auctions President David Kohler, whose company has handled a multitude of historic baseballs over the last two decades.
Interest in the Ohtani ball from wealthy American collectors would be strong but in Japan, where Ohtani is even more revered, it will undoubtedly be immense should it come up for sale. Most auction houses believe it’s important for the ball to be sold as quickly as possible if a fan is looking to cash in.
The Dodgers were undoubtedly hoping the ball would drop into an area where it could be secured by security or team personnel and returned to Ohtani.
Not the case.
Reporter Craig Mish says the fan opted to leave the ballpark with the milestone ball and did not turn it over to the Dodgers.
The fan who caught Shohei Ohtani’s 50th Home Run baseball has opted to walk away with it. Dodgers did not get it back.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) September 20, 2024
The milestone came against a team that will likely lose 100 games before the its regular season comes to an end, but there’s not much doubt if it hadn’t happened against the Miami Marlins, Ohtani would gave reached 50-50 anyway.
It capped quite a day for Ohtani who became the first player in history to record at least five hits, multiple homers and multiple stolen bases in a game since 1901, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs. His final stat line? 6-for-6, three home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases.
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