Fan had Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball graze his fingertips. It could cost him $500,000
Ryan Wold nearly had history within his grasp.
Instead it grazed off his fingertips.
Wold was on hand Thursday for the Dodgers-Miami Marlins game at LoanDepot Park, where L.A. superstar Shohei Ohtani became the first MLB player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.
Perhaps you’ve seen Wold in video footage of Ohtani’s 50th home run. He’s the guy in the Marlins tank top who had two chances at snagging the historic ball before it sailed off to make someone else a very happy, and possibly rich, man.
“It went above us and I saw it ricochet. I tried to get it at that time, but I was a little far at that point,” Wold told The Times in a phone interview Friday. “And then it pretty much bounced right off the table in front of me, and as it was right there, I stuck my hand out and it grazed the very tips [of my fingers]. By the time it fell down off the table, there were three people right on top of it.
“It’s just such a crazy moment because it happens so fast. I thought I had the reach for it — I didn’t. And then some other guy got it, and by that point it was kind of too late to jump down and try and get in the scuffle.”
Asked if he thinks there was anything more he could have done to pull in the ball while it was so close, Wold laughed.
“For sure. I could’ve just plunged out, I guess — definitely would’ve gotten hurt,” said Wold, a Palm Beach, Fla., resident who attended the game with a group of hisco-workers from Franklin Street real estate.
“It was really just cool just being there for that moment.”
That moment was only part of a monumental afternoon for Ohtani, who started the day with 48 home runs and 49 stolen bases and finished with 51 homers and 51 steals. He went six for six with 10 runs batted in and 17 total bases to help the Dodgers claim a 20-4 victory and clinch a 12th straight National League postseason berth, which will mark the first playoff appearance in Ohtani’s seven-year MLB career.
After the 50th home run ball bounced away from Wold, a mad scramble ensued. The man who finally emerged with it — Wold said he appeared to be in his 40s — immediately was whisked away by security. Darren Rovell of cllct reported that the fan was taken to an undisclosed location where the authenticity of his ball was verified by the league.
The Dodgers declined to comment for this story. The Marlins and MLB did not respond to messages from The Times.
As for the whereabouts of the ball, that’s unknown. Ohtani said after the game that he hadn’t received it. Craig Mish, senior baseball correspondent at the Miami Herald, reported that the fan kept the ball rather than give it to the Dodgers.
That may prove to be a wise financial decision. Brendan Wells, vice president at SVP Auctions in Laguna Niguel, said his company believes the ball “is worth half a million dollars, maybe even more based on the significance of that milestone,” provided that the owner acts quickly while Thursday’s events still are fresh in everybody’s minds.
Wold acknowledged that the ball is “very valuable” but said he probably would have kept the memento had he pulled it in.
“My dad’s a big baseball fan and his brothers, so I definitely would have wanted to involve them in the experience of it just because it’s such a big part of history,” Wold said.
He added: “I think something like that is unique. I mean, maybe eventually I’d sell it, but my parents live in New Jersey, I live in Florida, so maybe give them a chance to touch it, something like that.”
