Sale of Ohtani's 50/50 Ball on Hold as Broward Teen Cries Foul

A judge overseeing a Broward County teen’s lawsuit against a sports auction house has put today's sale of Dodger's Shohei Ohtani’s historic 50/50 ball on hold.

Apparently, there was a scuffle over the ball at loanDepot Park when Ohtani hit his 50th home run of the season in the seventh inning. The teen says the prized ball was stolen from his hands during the baseball game.

So, Max Matus, who was celebrating his 18th birthday on Sept. 19, filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County claiming he was sitting in left field at LoanDepot Park when Ohtani hit his dinger.

Matus alleges that he successfully caught it but claims that shortly after securing the ball, defendant Chris Belanski forcibly pried it from his hand.

The complaint states that Belsanki "wrapped his legs around Matus’s arm and used his hands to wrestle the ball away," an incident captured on video by fans at the game.

The judge yesterday ruled the auction can take place today, but the ball cannot be transferred to a new owner until another hearing October 10th.

The lawsuit claims that Matus is entitled to both the ball and damages, while also seeking to halt any attempts to sell it before ownership is determined by the court.

The Dodgers offer of $300K for the ball was declined and Goldin Auctions had announced their plans to hold an auction on Friday with an opening bid of $500,000.

With the option to pay $4.5 million outright for the historic ball.