The Los Angeles Dodgers made amends with the fan who caught Shohei Ohtani’s first home run as a Dodger by inviting her and her husband for an on-field experience at Dodger Stadium. The team also announced that they would review their ballpark processes for retrieving milestone baseballs. In an interview with Dodgers Nation, the fan, Ambar Roman, recounted how security personnel separated her from her husband and forced her to make a decision about the ball she caught. This incident shed light on a league-wide issue with handling milestone balls, as there is currently no consistent protocol in place for how to treat fans who catch home runs.
The incident involving the Dodgers exposed a larger problem within Major League Baseball regarding the handling of milestone balls. Fans like Bryant Junco and Mike Hutcheson have had similar experiences where they caught milestone home run balls and were offered little to no acknowledgment from the teams involved. MLB does have strict guidelines for how milestone balls should be handled, and authenticators are assigned to track and authenticate items on the field. However, once a ball leaves the field and its chain of custody cannot be tracked, MLB cannot authenticate it. It remains unclear if stadium security personnel are informing fans of this process when they want their souvenirs authenticated.
While the Dodgers’ gesture towards the fan involved in the Ohtani home run catch is a step in the right direction, there is hope that this incident will lead to more awareness and consistency across all MLB organizations. The lack of a standardized protocol for handling milestone balls has led to confusion and disappointment for fans who catch these valuable souvenirs. The league may need to address this issue and provide clearer guidelines to ensure that fans are treated fairly when catching milestone home runs.
Sports Illustrated previously detailed the role of MLB authenticators, who are responsible for tracking and noting each ball that is discarded or hit out of play within the foul territory on the field. Authenticators affix a unique hologram to the surface of the ball, which is then logged in MLB’s system. However, the process of authenticating a milestone ball can be challenging if its chain of custody is lost once it leaves the field. The only exceptions made for authentication in recent history were for milestone home runs hit by Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols.
By acknowledging and addressing the mishandling of the situation with the Ohtani home run ball catch, the Los Angeles Dodgers have set an example for other MLB organizations to follow. Hopefully, this incident will prompt the league to create a uniform protocol for handling milestone balls and ensure that fans who catch these valuable souvenirs are treated respectfully. It is essential for MLB and its teams to communicate clearly with fans about the authentication process and to establish consistent guidelines for handling milestone home runs in the future.
