Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 ball is to be auctioned, the starting bid is $500,000

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 home run ball has reportedly been consigned to collectors marketplace Goldin, and an auction for the coveted piece of MLB history will begin Friday, ESPN reports.

Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, said the consignor, who wishes to remain anonymous, was offered an undisclosed amount of money by the Dodgers for the historic ball, but opted to auction it off instead.

“That was one of the easiest (sends) ever,” Goldin told ESPN. “Ohtani (reached 50) on Thursday, literally on Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard with a representative of Goldin to Miami on Monday, met with him and flew back on Monday.”

On September 19, Shohei became the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season after hitting three home runs and stealing two bases in a game against the Miami Marlins.

(Related: How Shohei Ohtani, without half his strength, rewrote MLB history and reached 50/50)

Anyone who wants to purchase this piece of history will have to dig deep into their pockets, as the opening bid at Goldin, now owned by eBay, is reportedly $500,000.

The auction details state that potential buyers “will have the opportunity to purchase the baseball outright exclusively for $4,500,000 between September 27 and October 9. However, if the bidding reaches $3,000,000 before October 9, the private purchase option will no longer be available and interested parties will have to compete and bid for the baseball.”

Extended bidding begins on October 16 at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Goldin is aware of how coveted the historic ball is and believes that an auction as soon as possible is the best solution.

“In my view, the best way to go about it was by auction as soon as possible,” Goldin said. “It's about time; the Dodgers are making the playoffs, Ohtani will easily be the most valuable player, so let's do this while Ohtani is on everyone's mind – and what was also very important to the consignor is the worldwide and global reach that both Goldin and eBay have. It's entirely possible that someone outside of the United States could win this baseball.”

According to ESPN, the current record price for a baseball is $3.05 million for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball in 1999, which was hit by comic book writer and McFarlane Toys empire magnate Todd McFarlane.

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