A fan who says he is the rightful owner of the Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to stop the scheduled auction of the ball, according to court records.
Max Matus, 18, filed suit Thursday in Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court seeking a temporary injunction against Goldin Auctions, which had scheduled to open bidding on the ball Friday.
The lawsuit, which also names Chris Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez, says Belanski “wrongfully and forcefully” obtained possession of the ball from Matus in the stands and that Belanski and Ramirez have indicated on social media their plans to sell the ball.
“We are aware of the case that has been filed,” Goldin Auctions said in a statement to ESPN. “Having reviewed the allegations and images included in the lawsuit, and publicly available video from the game, Goldin plans to go live with the auction of the Ohtani 50/50 ball.”
Goldin Auctions’ statement said that while the company has been named in the case, there are no allegations of wrongdoing by the company. Goldin plans to open bidding for the ball Friday at $500,000.