“He never met me” - MLB fan who caught first Shohei Ohtani Dodgers home run clarifies claimed reward
Shohei Ohtani blasted his first home run for the season last night. It was also the first of the season for the slugger, who had gotten off to a bit of a rough start to the year with a new club.
He finally broke through, depositing a ball into the stands. It was monumental for his performance this season as well as his career. It was a milestone hit.
For Ohtani, he has had plenty of milestones. Whenever possible, MLB players try to get the balls back for them. A pitcher's first strikeout ball is given to the dugout, a first hit is thrown back to the team, and so on. If it's a home run, however, it usually ends up with a fan, and that makes it harder to get back.
A lot of fans are willing to trade the ball for some form of reward. For them, it's not so much about having a specific ball, but that the player gets it and they get something else cool to remember that by. That's precisely what happened with the fan below who caught Ohtani's ball.
She said that she was happy to exchange the ball for a gift, and it was reported that Ohtani met her and gave her a different ball, two hats and a baseball bat. However, the fan in question corrected this report.
She tweeted:
"Okay let's make this clear he didn't meet me."
She also went on to mention why she did the exchange in the first place:
"I didn't want to be that person. All the items are signed. I am happy with what I got in return plus the memory of it all."
Overall, she's pleased with the reward, but she didn't meet the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.
Shohei Ohtani blasts first home run to get back on track
Shohei Ohtani hadn't been playing very well. Manager Dave Roberts said that he was supremely confident that he'd be able to turn things around, and it didn't take long for Ohtani to prove him right.
Even with a slow start, the Dodgers are on fire, and Ohtani still possesses a near .800 OPS. That's low for his standards, but it's good for a lot of players.