Shohei Ohtani's historic 50/50 home run ball to be auctioned - ESPN

The coveted Shohei Ohtani 50/50 home run ball has been consigned to collectibles marketplace Goldin and bidding will begin Friday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star is the only player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season. He hit three home runs and stole two bases in the same game against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 19 to achieve baseball history.

«This was one of the easiest [consignments] ever,» Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, told ESPN. «Ohtani [hits 50] on Thursday, literally Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard down to Miami on Monday with a representative from Goldin, met him, flew back Monday.»

Currently, the consigner is choosing to remain anonymous, though pictures of him have surfaced online. Goldin says he didn't speak to another auction house: «This is one of those cases where our reputation for getting the absolute highest price on hot-market items [came] into play… honestly, we had no competition at all.»

Fox Sports 640's Andy Slater reported that the Dodgers originally offered the fan who caught Ohtani's 50th home run ball $300,000. The Dodgers could not be reached for comment by ESPN. Goldin confirmed «there was an offer by the Dodgers and he turned it down.»

The opening bid with Goldin, now owned by eBay, is $500,000. Prospective buyers «will have a chance to purchase the baseball outright for $4,500,000 exclusively between September 27 to October 9; if bidding reaches $3,000,000 prior to October 9 however, the option to purchase privately will no longer be available, and interested parties must compete and bid for the baseball.»

Extended bidding begins at 10 p.m. ET on Oct. 16.

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