Judge denies attempt to halt auction of Ohtani 50/50 ball - ESPN

Goldin Auctions will proceed with its scheduled auction of the coveted Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball following a Florida judge's ruling late Thursday.

Max Matus, an 18-year-old fan who says he is the rightful owner of the ball, had filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday seeking a temporary injunction to halt the auction, which is scheduled to open Friday.

Matus's lawyer, John Uustal, said Thursday the auction will go live Friday, but that the judge scheduled a full evidentiary hearing for Oct. 10 and that the Ohtani ball cannot be sold before that date.

«The judge asked us to try to work it out,» Uustal, of the Kelley-Uustal law firm in Florida, told ESPN. «We were asking for an emergency injunctive relief, saying, 'If the ball is sold, there's no way to put the horse back in the barn and make disappear' — and there would be irreparable harm, so, we want to maintain the status quo.»

Uustal said the auction house wanted to start the auction Friday and keep the scheduled end date, which is Oct. 16, but that the judge was willing to have a full hearing before the end of the auction.

«So, as long it was absolutely clear that the ball could not actually be sold — which it now is, by court order — until after this hearing, then we were agreeable to that,» Uustal said. «So, I think everybody's protected now. The court's going to make his ruling based on our evidence on Oct. 10.»

A spokesperson from Goldin told ESPN that the auction house is «excited to bring this item to the market.»

The Matus lawsuit, which also names Chris Belanski and Kelvin Ramirez, says Belanski «wrongfully and forcefully» obtained possession of the ball from Matus in the stands and that Belanski and Ramirez have indicated on social media their plans to sell