When Shohei Ohtani made history in Miami back in September — becoming the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season — the Dodgers made an attempt to purchase the ball back with a six-figure offer. The fan who came up with the ball declined that offer, and the auction results proved he made the right decision.
On Tuesday night, Ohtani’s 50-50 home run baseball officially sold at auction for nearly $4.4 million through the auction house Goldin. That figure broke the record that previously belonged to Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998’s home run chase with Sammy Sosa at $3 million.
But the drama around that baseball is only just beginning.
About a week after the home run, 18-year-old Max Matus filed a lawsuit to stop the auction, claiming that he had the baseball before it was forcibly taken from him in a scrum. The lawsuit was later revised to allow the auction to go on, and instead, the focus would be on the payout. Video did show that the lawsuit’s defendant Chris Belanski wrapped his legs around Matus’ hand before coming up with the ball.
As we pointed out when the initial lawsuit was filed, there is precedent behind the fans being ordered to split the payout evenly. It happened with Barry Bonds’ 73rd home run ball. In a just world, everyone involved should be happy about walking away with over $1 million apiece, but we’ll have to see what the court decides.
He claimed that the ball was taken away from him by force.
We could be looking at Popov vs. Hayashi 2.0 in Miami.
When Shohei Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, he created the most chaotic dash for that historic ball in the left-field club seating at LoanDepot Park. As fans dove over tables and chairs, one fan did ultimately come away with the baseball — and potentially a massive pay day.
But on the eve of an auction expected to draw a seven-figure sales price, one fan is suing to stop the proceedings.
According to Yahoo! Sports, 18-year-old Max Matus claimed that he had the baseball before Chris Belanski forcibly took the ball out of his hands.
Matus was in the red Marlins jersey as there was a scramble for the ball. Though we can’t see who was actually in possession of the ball, Belanski did trap Matus’ hand between his legs and eventually came away with the ball.
And while the auction house plans to proceed with the sale (unless a court quickly intervenes), there is legal precedent that could lead to Belanski and Matus splitting the sale.
When Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run in 2001, the fan who initially caught the ball — Alex Popov — was mobbed until the baseball came loose. Patrick Hayashi was quickly able to scoop up the loose ball and hide it. A legal battle ensued and we eventually had this decision, via sportico.com:
After weighing the dueling arguments, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Kevin McCarthy reasoned that “neither can present a superior argument as against the other.” McCarthy determined that both men acted lawfully, intended to possess the ball and had physical contact with the ball. Although Hayashi left the ballpark with the ball and although Popov couldn’t “demonstrate full control” of that ball, Popov nonetheless obtained a “pre-possessory interest.”
Ultimately the judge held the two men’s “legal claims are of equal quality, and they are equally entitled to the ball.” McCarthy then ordered Popov and Hayashi to sell their ball (since neither could own it on his own) and split the proceeds. Comic book creator Todd McFarlane bought the ball for $450,000 in an auction held in 2003.
Without that Popov vs. Hayashi decision, we probably would have been left with a court deciding the process of a catch as if it was the NFL replay center. We’ll have to see if Miami-Dade County views the dispute the same way as Judge Kevin McCarthy did 23 years ago. But at the very least, there’s similar precedent.
This sure looked like a classy move by the Marlins manager.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani recording the MLB’s first 50-50 in league history will understandably draw all the attention out of the team’s Thursday game in Miami against the Marlins.
Ohtani landing 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season is just mind-boggling to think about, and even Marlins manager Skip Schumaker wasn’t about to let the moment pass the MLB by.
Rather than having the pitcher walk Ohtani during his at-bat, the broadcast showed Schumaker mouthing what certainly looked like: “[Expletive] that. Too much respect for this guy for that [expletive] to happen.”
The broadcast even noticed the f-bomb during Schumaker’s honorable decision, one that shows what class the Marlins manager has and how much respect Ohtani has across the sport.
This Miami Marlins fan came so very close to snagging Shohei Ohtani’s milestone 50-50 home run ball.
On Thursday, Ohtani became the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, a miraculous feat for one of the best baseball players to ever take the field. Ohtani hit multiple home runs during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ absolute trouncing of the Miami Marlins, but none were bigger than the seventh inning blast that sealed the deal.
This one Marlins fan, however, missed a chance at holding history after Ohtani’s home run ball fell within inches of his grasp before bouncing away.
Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani made MLB history on Thursday night, becoming the first league player to ever reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
It’s a truly incredible accomplishment for Ohtani, one so stellar that the Dodgers player got a curtain call from the fans at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
You know this is special when both Dodgers and Marlins fans all come together to make sure Ohtani can soak in this truly special moment in his career and the league’s overall history.
We’re not sure when we’ll see another player reach a milestone like this, so it’s so cool that Ohtani got the curtain call he deserved at an away game.
Griffin Conine, who played for Duke baseball from 2016-18, got the call from the Miami Marlins on Sunday, sending him to the big leagues.
Former Duke baseball star Griffin Conine got the call over the weekend.
The former Blue Devil and second-round pick in the 2018 MLB draft got called up to the majors by the Miami Marlins. The team announced the decision on Sunday.
Conine, whose father won two World Series titles with the Marlins, played for the Blue Devils for three seasons from 2016-18. He earned consecutive All-ACC Second Team nominations as a sophomore and junior, and his 31 home runs are the seventh-most in program history.
He compiled 26 doubles and 108 RBIs between his last two collegiate seasons, ending both campaigns with exactly 65 hits. He also drew 43 walks in 2018, finishing with an on-base percentage of .410.
Since being drafted by the Blue Jays, Conine has worked his way up through the minor leagues. The elevation marks his first time on an MLB roster, making him the third Blue Devil to make their big league debut in 2024.
Former Blue Devil Joey Loperfido, now a member of the Toronto Blue Jays himself after a mid-season trade, recently won a game with a solo home run for his new team.
A majority of big-league umpires give players and managers a high threshold for what they’d tolerate before an ejection. They understand that emotions can run high in pro sports, and it usually takes a few magic words or personal attacks to send someone back to the clubhouse.
Umpire James Jean is clearly an exception to that rule.
During Sunday’s game between the Cubs and Marlins, Cubs infielder Patrick Wisdom was frustrated after striking out for the second time in the game. The strikeout call was correctly ruled a strike by Jean. But Wisdom reacted by tossing his helmet to the ground as the inning came to a close.
Jean took that personally and ejected Wisdom right there on the spot.
Patrick Wisdom was ejected because he threw his helmet after a strikeout but he didn't say anything to the umpire pic.twitter.com/skPC9rqOkf
Now, umpires do hate when players try to show them up, but Wisdom pretty clearly was reacting out of frustration with himself. He didn’t look at Jean or even say a word to the umpire. Yet, it was enough to get him ejected.
The trade deadline has passed and the seller’s market absolutely delivered
The clock has gone past 6 p.m. ET on July 30th, do you know where your favorite player is?
Major League Baseball’s trade deadline officially passed with a flurry of action after simmering over the past few days. After seeing Randy Arozarena head to the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros landing Yusei Kikuchi before Tuesday, fireworks were expected and delivered.
Let’s run through the winners and losers at the deadline.
Winner: Toronto Blue Jays
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Entering Tuesday, the Blue Jays were seven games under .500 and eight games back of a Wild Card spot. They could’ve sold Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Instead they were able to hang onto their elite talent while restocking a farm system in need of new blood.
Getting Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner (the son of Billy Wagner) from the Astros for Yusei Kikuchi’s expiring contract is a massive win.
Bloss instantly became the Toronto’s No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, while Wagner slots in at No. 21. Loperfido, who is 25-years-old, already has some experience in The Show this year and could still become an every day player. Again, not bad for a middle-of-the-rotation starter who’s set to become a free agent after October.
Loser: Chicago White Sox
Credit: Getty Images
First-year general manager Chris Getz did a phenomenal job this offseason signing Erick Fedde after a bounce-back season in South Korea and was just as smart to add Tommy Pham in spring training with eyes on flipping him this week. But all that work felt worthless after the return Getz negotiated.
The White Sox sent Pham, Fedde and cash to St. Louis and Michael Kopech to the Dodgers and the best piece Chicago got back was a 24-year-old former top prospect in Miguel Vargas who has yet to establish himself in the Majors. In exchange for Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox got salary relief — but any notion the money will be spent in the offseason is just false hope.
Getz had elite trade chips in his stack and couldn’t get even half of what the Blue Jays acquired in the Kikuchi trade. He couldn’t move his ace in Garrett Crochet or a cornerstone center fielder in Luis Robert Jr.
It’s another bad look for a very bad franchise.
Winner: Kansas City Royals
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J. J. Picollo just quietly proved he’s an absolute force on the trade market.
While the White Sox were practically giving away anything of value in their clubhouse, the Royals GM was able to strong-arm the Oakland Athletics into moving reliever Lucas Erceg — and his five years of club control —without giving up any of their top prospects. Now a Kansas City club starting to see a World Series window open up gets a set-up man with a nasty slider it can build around for years to come.
If that were all Picollo pulled off it would be enough to call the deadline a win. Alas, he found more ways to improve the current roster on the margins, bringing in veteran Paul DeJong from the White Sox and a versatile arm in Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers. The total cost of all three immediate impact players? A couple of prospects who might reach the majors and whatever coins Picollo had under his couch.
The Giants were able to sell Alex Cobb to Cleveland for Jacob Bresnahan and a player to be named later while sending Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson back to Atlanta.
Blake Snell, meanwhile, stayed put.
The reality is this roster has a ton of more work to do before it’s ready to contend again. Namely, getting healthy. Every year now it seems like the Giants either disappoint in the offseason or the deadline. The streak continues in 2024.
Winner: San Diego Padres
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The thing about top prospects is that they can’t help you win right now. The San Diego Padres want a World Series and they want it this year. So bye-bye prospects, hello reinforcements.
General manager A.J. Preller essentially cleaned out his farm system this week, trading away five of his top eight prospects in Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur, Graham Pauley, Dylan Lesko and J.D. Gonzalez.
The return? The best closer on the market in Tanner Scott and sturdy bullpen arm in Jason Adam.
Full trade, per ESPN sources
San Diego Padres get: LHP Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing
Miami Marlins get: LHP Robby Snelling, RHP Adam Mazur, IF Graham Pauley, IF Jay Beshears
Padres going for it. Marlins are loading up on prospects. A bonanza of a trade deadline deal.
Admittedly, those deals looked a lot better before the rival Los Angeles Dodgers added Jack Flaherty and Kevin Kiermaier.
Loser: Tarik Skubal
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The favorite to win the American League Cy Young is going to be stuck playing mostly meaningless baseball after the Tigers were unable to find a trade partner.
Detroit is 14 games back in the AL Central and five games under .500. It just moved Flaherty to the Dodgers and doesn’t have a ton of reinforcements on the way to make the last two months of baseball any more enjoyable.
Skubal is going to have to dig deep to finish off his Cy Young campaign. It’s a shame he has to do so on a team with nothing else to play for this summer.
Winner: New York Mets
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The No. 1 rule in Queens right now boils down to “don’t [expletive] with the vibes”.
First-year president David Stearns understood the assignment, adding a frontline starter in Paul Blackburn, a reliable every day outfielder in Jesse Winker and an experienced bullpen arm in Ryne Stanek.
Winker and Stanek are both on expiring contracts and didn’t cost the Mets much at all. Blackburn is a former All-Star who won’t reach free agency until after next season.
All three will help this team right now without forcing Stearns to commit to this roster core long-term — something he’s been reluctant to do as he tries to bring the Mets their first World Series since 1986.
New York made it through the deadline without rocking the boat even while adding a few more pieces. That’s about as smartly as a GM can navigate the deadline with a fringe contender.
We now have Jazz Chisholm Jr. calling for them after a terrible call in Monday’s Miami Marlins loss to the New York Mets.
He was up at bat when umpire Rob Drake called a strike three on a Jose Butto pitch that was clearly outside by a lot. You can hear Chisholm protest on a mic, but he later took to X (formerly Twitter) with an emoji and one word to say this:
With the No. 92 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, the Miami Marlins selected Alabama third baseman Gage Miller.
On Day 2 of the 2024 MLB draft, the Miami Marlins selected Alabama Crimson Tide third baseman Gage Miller with the No. 92 overall pick.
Miller spent one season in Tuscaloosa after transferring from Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Alabama. The Pennsylvania native had a strong junior campaign in Tuscaloosa. He amassed a .381 batting average to go along with a team-high 19 home runs and 58 runs batted in.
In all likelihood, Miller will elect to turn pro and sign a contract with the Marlins organization. He has the option to return to college if he so chooses. However, it will be tough for Miller to pass up on being selected in the third round. The former junior college standout will be a difficult player to replace in Tuscaloosa.
The Marlins are in need of assembling a strong farm system for the major league team. Their decision to draft Miller is one that could go a long way in the future.
With their 3rd-round pick (No. 92 overall), the @Marlins select @AlabamaBSB second baseman Gage Miller, No. 68 on the Top 250 Draft Prospects list.
