Unfortunately, Max Matus will never forget his 18th birthday.

On September 19, the avid baseball fan attended the Miami Marlins-Los Angeles Dodgers game at LoanDepot Park to celebrate.

Something epic happened in the seventh inning: Dodgers star hitter Shohei Ohtani made history with his 50th home run of the season. This means that Shotime, as he is affectionately known, also became the first member of the 50/50 club; The Japanese slugger became the first player in Major League history to hit 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season.

Something else epic? The Cooper City senior accidentally caught the valuable souvenir flying into left field where he was sitting.

In a cell phone video that has gone viral, Matus, wearing a red Marlins jersey, has the ball. A millisecond later, a man in a black shirt jumps on him and they wrestle as spectators scream in excitement.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Get it!”

The older man manages to put the 50:50 ball away and hold it up triumphantly. Matus looks dejected and confused.

The fan who took the ball home that night, listed in court documents as “Chris Belanski,” didn’t keep it long and decided to immediately profit by sending it to New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions.

Now Matus is suing the individual and a friend in the stands is cheering him on.

In the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Florida’s 11th Judicial Court, the young man claims that the defendant “unlawfully and forcibly” took the ball away from him by putting his “arm between his legs” to grab it to force away. As the “rightful owner,” the teenager is also seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

Matus also filed a temporary restraining order against Goldin Auctions, owned by reality star “King of Collectibles” Ken Goldin.

“Although Goldin was named as a party in the case, there are no allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the company,” Goldin said in a statement to The Athletic. “We are excited to bring this item to market.”

A Miami judge denied an injunction barring the pricey memorabilia from auction and ruled that bidding on the ball could continue despite the ongoing ownership dispute. The coveted collector’s item went on sale on Friday afternoon; The bidding started at $500,000 and closes on October 16th.

However, the court ruled that the sale of the MLB-authenticated ball could not be completed, says Matus’ attorney John Uustal, based in Fort Lauderdale. The matter will be decided at an evidentiary hearing on October 10.

“Defendants (Goldin Auctions, LLC et al.) will not sell, conceal or transfer the 50/50 Ball,” according to court documents obtained by the Miami Herald.

“Matus suffered irreparable harm due to the nature of the unique, irreplaceable 50/50 ball,” the lawsuit states. “There is no appropriate remedy that can replace this unique and exceptional 50/50 ball.”

“It’s the ball that everyone is talking about and looking for,” Goldin says in a promotional video that shows it now safely tucked away in a glass case. There is some light black wear on the side, possibly from where Ohtani hit it.

“I think every American, especially baseball fans, would recognize that when a kid gets a baseball, it’s not OK to just take it, even if that ball is worth a lot of money,” Uustal said. “Especially on his birthday.”

The Miami Herald reached out to the defendants’ attorney and did not receive an immediate response late Friday afternoon.