LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A Dodgers fan walked away with a piece of history from what was arguably the greatest baseball postseason performance of all time. Now he could soon be a multimillionaire.
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David Flores, a longtime Dodgers fan from Santa Fe Springs, was in the right place at the right time when Shohei Ohtani hit his third home run in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.
“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 said. “I looked around me, and everybody was so happy and thrilled about what happened.”
The catch has been life-changing for Flores, who is a professional boxing coach.
“My phone is ‘ding, ding, ding, ding’… nonstop,” he said. “I’m very happy that this happened to me in my life.”
“It hasn’t hit me yet. It hasn’t hit me yet, to be honest,” he continued — but he does have plans for the ball.
“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. I want to sell the ball.”
Flores said he is hoping to build generational wealth for his family. He also wants to meet Ohtani and the rest of the team.
Ohtani’s three home runs and 10 strikeouts in Friday’s game helped the Dodgers advance to the World Series for the second year in a row.
So, how much is the ball worth?
“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,” said Michael Keys, the COO at SCP Auctions. “It was the most historic, I think, single-player performance in any baseball game, let alone an NCLS-clinching game.”
Keys says that before Flores can cash in, the images of him catching the ball will have to be reviewed and authenticated by a forensic firm that partners with an auction company. After that, he will have to take a lie detector test.
“And then we’ll put it up for auction, and our next auction is coming up in November, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect,” Keys said.
The Dodgers will play the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, starting Friday.