The Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to make things right. A day after two fans said the team pressured them into surrendering Shohei Ohtani’s first home run ball for an unfair return, the team asked them back for a do-over.
A Dodgers official said Ambar Roman and her husband, Alexis Valenzuela, have been invited to an on-field experience at Dodger Stadium. The team also said it will review its ballpark processes for retrieving milestone baseballs.
Roman told The Athletic on Thursday that following her retrieval of the home run ball, security staff separated her from her husband and made an underwhelming offer in exchange for the ball. Roman also said team officials told them they’d refuse to authenticate the baseball, should she opt to take it home.
The couple eventually left with two hats, a bat and a ball, all signed by Ohtani. The couple never met or spoke with Ohtani, who now is on the board as a Dodger after hitting 171 homers during his Angels tenure.
“We’re not trying to extort anyone. It’s not that we’re money hungry,” Valenzuela said Thursday. “It’s just that it’s a special moment, it’s a special ball. I just think it’s fair to be equally rewarded.”
Roman, who made the trade, said she had no regrets about making the deal. She was happy that Ohtani could get his ball back. But she was unhappy with how the Dodgers team personnel handled the situation.
This story will be updated with quotes and reactions later in the day.
— Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic contributed to this report.
(Photo of Shohei Ohtani: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
