D-Backs Cashing In on Shohei Ohtani’s
The Arizona Diamondbacks are selling a baseball that Shohei Ohtani hit on Tuesday, June 2.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star has been on a tear recently, hitting anything in sight, and during the second game of the D-Backs series on the road, Ohtani got on “cycle watch” early.
He hit a double in the first inning and followed it up with a triple in the second inning, leaving him just a single and a homer away from the extremely rare achievement.
The Arizona Diamondbacks took the ball that Ohtani hit for a triple and have started selling it at the ballpark after authenticating it, according to reporter Fredo Cervantes.
The ball sells for $10,000, per a social media post from the reporter, with the team donating 32% of the sale to the D-Backs Foundation, while the remaining 68% stays with the team.
Clearly, the impact of Ohtani on MLB is widespread and not just about the Dodgers benefiting. Arizona is only the latest team to take advantage of Ohtani’s international appeal.
His jersey sells like hotcakes, and every ballpark that he visits sees an upturn in attendance and intrigue. The World Series’ ratings are up on the whole as well.
Considering all of the special things that he does as both a hitter and pitcher, there is plenty to cheer and commemorate about Ohtani.
Ohtani fell short of the cycle on June 3, not registering another hit and just getting on base one more time in his next three appearances at the plate, which came from a walk.
Still, it continued a trend of Ohtani heating up at the plate — he is hitting .429 over his last 15 games and .500 over his last seven games.
Ohtani followed that up with an amazing start against Arizona on Wednesday, pitching six scoreless innings and finding a good feel for his command.
His Cy Young campaign is on the right path, though regular pitchers like Cristopher Sanchez and Jacob Misiorowski are still making him a long shot to take home the award.
