Shohei Ohtani recently hit his 50th career home run since joining the MLB in 2018, and the ball sold on Tuesday night for almost $4.4m. The auction attracted 40 bids, reportedly including some from Japan.

This smashes the previous record sale of a baseball, which was $3m for the 70th home run for Mark McGwire in 1999 after the 12-time All-Star beat the previous single-season record.

reached the milestone last month against the Miami Marlins

Ohtani reached the milestone last month against the Miami Marlins when he hit three home runs in total. His team now goes on to the World Series, where they will face the New York Yankees.

The man who had the 50th ball was Chris Belanski, and he refused to sell it on the night to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Initial valuations from auctioneers were less than $1m, and some fans sued Belanski, claiming they actually got the ball first before he came away with it following a scrap.

While the $4.4m sale is impressive, it doesn’t come close to the Babe Ruth jersey that sold in August for over $24m, making it the most expensive piece of memorabilia for any sport.