Shohei Ohtani marked his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup in style against the Boston Red Sox on Friday. He hit a two-run home run, which had some sentimental value attached to it as the two-way player exchanged the home run ball for some special memorabilia for the fan who caught it.
According to Reddit user ‘crosswithyou,’ Ohtani approached the man, tagged as @luisgomezzz9, who caught his 24th home run of the season and asked for the home run ball in place of a signed bat and ball. The user speculated that the home run meant something special to Ohtani, as it was the first time his newborn daughter was in the stands to witness her dad hit one.
“Not sure what the occasion was but he did seem to point up into the stands as he was rounding the bases so maybe his family was there. Perhaps his firstborn witnessed Daddy hitting a homer for the first time?” the user wrote in the comments.
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“Guy who caught the ball didn’t hesitate to give it back. Seems like a good dude. He had played pitcher through college and caught the ball with the glove he’d been using for 11 years. Best play of his life. Said it was his dad’s dream for the longest time to catch a home run ball so he wanted to show the ball to him.
“Maybe he didn’t get to show his dad the ball but the catch was caught on TV and he’s now got some really cool swag in exchange.”
Ohtani had missed the previous game due to lingering left knee soreness that has kept him out of pitching action since early last month. In the fourth inning, he led off with a double against starter Ranger Suarez before scoring via an RBI single from Freddie Freeman to cut the Red Sox’s lead to 3-1.
With a one-run margin in the following frame, Ohtani hit a 2-1 changeup from Jovani Moran to deep into right field for a two-run homer. The Red Sox offense, however, hit five unanswered runs to take a 9-4 win.
Shohei Ohtani’s 1-of-1 card sells for $11 million
While Ohtani traded a home run ball for some collector’s item memorabilia, an anonymous collector found a 1-of-1 Shohei Ohtani Dual Gold Logoman autograph card at Boca Sports Cards in Boca Raton, Florida, and promptly sold it in a private deal to high-end sports card collector Matthew Allen for a whopping $11 million, ESPN reported on Friday.
“The card just resonated deep with me, and I was like, you know what, I have to get this card,” Allen said.
Besides a dual gold Logoman patch and an on-card autograph signed in both English and Kanji, the card also features game-used jersey pieces from Ohtani’s two-home-run game on September 7, 2025, and another home run game on April 12, 2026.
This sale ranks as the third-highest sports trading card sale in history, trailing only a Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant dual logoman card ($12.9 million) and a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card ($12.6 million).
Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy
