A lucky fan caught Ohtani’s home run ball during Game 4 of the NLCS. He’s looking to sell the historic collectible to the highest bidder
During Game 4 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), one lucky fan from Santa Fe Springs caught a home run ball hit by Shohei Ohtani. The historic collectible could be worth millions of dollars, experts say.
David Flores, a longtime Dodgers fan, was enjoying the game when Ohtani slammed a home run right in his direction. That was Ohtani’s third home run of the evening, rounding out one of the best postseason performances of all time in MLB history.
He started the game as pitcher, where he struck out 10 batters from the Milwaukee Brewers. Then, fans went crazy in the stands as Ohtani scored home run after home run. His legendary performance helped push the Dodgers into the World Series for the second year in a row.
Ohtani’s last home run ball sailed toward the crowd, landing in the hands of David Flores. Flores happened to be in the perfect spot and was prepared for the historic catch.
“I knew it was going to ricochet off the people in front of me for some reason, my intuition told me that. When it did, I stayed nice and calm, and I caught the ball like a baby and just gripped it nice and tight,” Flores told ABC 7 Los Angeles. “I looked around me, and everybody was so happy and thrilled about what happened.”
Cameras caught the exciting moment that Ohtani hit the ball directly towards Flores. After the game, Flores spoke to ABC7 about his stroke of luck in catching the historic ball.
Experts say the ball could be worth several millions of dollars to the right bidder, which is life-changing news for Flores.
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Michael Keys, the COO at Sports Memorabilia Auctions and Consignment (SCP) said, “The market will tell us, but my initial estimation on that ball, due to the historic relevance of what happened on Friday night. I think it’s three, four, five million dollars plus. It was the most historic, I think, single player performance in any baseball game, let alone an NCLS-clenching game.”
Keys says that before Flores can complete the sale and cash out, he’ll gave to go through a rigorous authentication process. Photos of Flores catching the ball will be reviewed and validated by a forensic firm, a partner of the auction. Flores will also have to take a lie detector test. If he is approved, the ball will likely go up for SCP auction in November.
Flores, who is currently a professional boxing coach, is interested in selling.
“I’m going to say this in the most humble way possible… I’m looking to sell the ball,” Flores said. “You know, to the highest bidder or the highest offer.”
He hopes to use the money to build generation wealth for his family, and he’d also like to mean Ohtani and the team.
“It hasn’t hit me yet. It hasn’t hit me yet, to be honest,” Flores said. The longtime Dodgers fan could soon be a millionaire thanks to his lucky catch.