Winner of Shohei Ohtani's record $4.4 million-worth 50th HR ball revealed

The identity of the winner of Shohei Ohtani
The identity of the winner of Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run auction has been revealed... sort of

On September 19, fans in Miami watched Shohei Ohtani drive his 50th ball of the season into the stands. Not only was it the superstar's first 50-homer season, but it also made Ohtani the first player in MLB history to record 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season.

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"SHOHEI OHTANI HAS DONE IT. 50 HOME RUNS | 50 STOLEN BASES. HISTORY" - MLB

The Dodgers went on to beat the Miami Marlins 20-4 that day. Ohtani's opposite-field shot at Loan Depot Park was caught by a fan by the name of Chris Belanski. Although other fans have argued that they were in fact the ones to catch the ball, Belanski registered the piece of MLB history with Goldin Auctions, for an asking price of $500,000 on September 27.

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Less than a month later, Goldin founder Ken Goldin took to his company's Instagram page to announce that the artifact had found a new home. Although Goldin did not divulge the personal details of the buyer, he released that they were a firm from Taiwan that had purchased the LA Dodgers slugger's ball for some $4.392 million.

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"BREAKING: NEW RECORD $$$ FOR A BALL. Final Sale Price on the Shohei Ohtani 50th Home Run Baseball: $4,392,000. The Highest Sale Price for Any Ball of Any Sport! Email us at [email protected] to Consign your Collectibles!" - Goldin

The sale set the record for the most money ever gained from the sale of a sports collectible. Previously, the record was held by Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball, hit while he was playing for the 1998 St. Louis Cardinals.

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Taiwanese acquisition of Shohei Ohtani ball shows his global appeal

About 18 months before making history in Miami, Shohei Ohtani struck out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout at Loan Depot Park to win the World Baseball Classic. With an estimated 55 million pairs of eyes watching from Japan, the spectacle showed off Ohtani's worldwide network of fans. As Ken Goldin said about the sale of the ball:

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"A lot of people think the baseball is going to Japan. It is not ... A corporation in Taiwan, who loves baseball, and who loves Shohei Ohtani, and who certainly would look to share his treasures with the world, has won the auction"

Although the ball was indeed sold for an astronomical amount, there is no telling when the next time we will see a player as special as Shohei Ohtani do something so special.

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Edited by Adrian Dorney
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