Lawsuit filed by Florida teenager accuses man of 'stealing' Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The home run ball that catapulted Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani into Major League Baseball history is now the subject of a lawsuit filed in Florida state court.

An 18-year-old from Florida says he had possession of Ohtani's 50th home run ball and claims another fan at the game stole it from him.

That fan later sold the historic ball to Goldin Auctions, which is now taking bids on it. Bidding started at $500,000 with the auction running through October 16.

The home run hit by Ohtani on September 19 when Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins made him the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

"Shohei is an absolute once-in-a-lifetime talent," said Goldin Auctions CEO Ken Goldin, who said the ball comes authenticated by the MLB.

"It has a hologram on the baseball that they fixed at the stadium, and it also has the secret markings that you see on the baseball that they only used those baseballs when they were pitching to Shohei."

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Max Matus claims that he "was able to firmly grab the ball in his left hand, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball."

The complaint continues to read "However, shortly after he obtained possession, [the defendant] wrapped his legs around Max's arm and used his hands to wrangle the ball out of Max's hand, stealing the ball for himself."

Attorney John Uustal, who represents Matus, said his client did have possession of the ball and it was stolen from him.

"Once the ball comes into the stands, and into the spectators, regular law of Florida applies," said Uustal. "And if somebody has possession of something, someone else can't take it by force."

Cell phone video shot by another fan at the game shows the scrum for the ball, but sports business analyst Darren Rovell said it's difficult to tell whether Matus ever had possession of it.

"He says he had the ball; he had possession in his left hand in the suit that was filed, and it was taken from him," said Rovell. "The issue is that the video that's out there, including the stills, don't really show Matus at any time with full possession of the ball."

During a court hearing on Thursday, a Florida judge ruled that the auction will be allowed to continue, but the sale of the baseball won't be finalized until evidence can be presented during a future hearing on Oct. 10.