Ball for Ohtani's historic 50th home run - yours for $4.5m

The ball that Shohei Ohtani hit to claim his historic 50th home run of the current MLB season has been put up for auction.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar, 30, made baseball history last Thursday by becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.

The starting bid for the ball is $500,000 (£375,000) but there is an option to purchase it privately for $4.5m (£3.4m).

That would set a new record for a baseball, which is currently $3.05m (£1.9m) - for Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball of 1998.

Not only did Japan's Ohtani reach the milestone during the Dodgers' 20-4 win over the Miami Marlins, he did so during arguably the best batting performance ever.

The American League's two-time Most Valuable Player, Ohtani had six hits from six at-bats, driving in 10 runs including three homers. He also had two stolen bases, taking his season tally to 51 with 51 homers.

Ohtani's 50th homer - a team record - came in the seventh innings and the fan who caught it reportedly turned down the Dodgers' offer to purchase the ball for $300,000 (£225,000).

The fan reached out to Goldin auction house the following day and has opted to remain anonymous.

"This was one of the easiest [consignments] ever," Goldin's founder and chief executive Ken Goldin told ESPN.

"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."

Ohtani has since extended his mark to 53 home runs and 55 stolen bases, with five games of the regular season remaining.

He will then play in the MLB play-offs for the first time as the Dodgers have already secured a spot in the post-season.