Did Shohei Ohtani meet fan who caught his first Dodgers home run ball?

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is once again embroiled in controversy for something off the field.

Ohtani on Wednesday mashed his first home run in a Dodger uniform 430 feet into the right field bleachers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

The ball was recovered by lifelong Dodgers fan Ambar Roman, who gave the historic ball back for little in return. According to a report from The Athletic’s Sam Blum, Roman said she was pressured by Dodger Stadium security to give the ball back.

Roman also added that she wasn’t even afforded the opportunity to meet Ohtani after returning the baseball valued at an estimated $100,000. However, Ohtani’s postgame comments claimed otherwise.

According to the Japanese star through his interpreter, Ohtani was able to talk to Roman.

“I was able to talk to the fan, and was able to get it back,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “Obviously it’s a very special ball, a lot of feelings toward it, I’m very grateful that it’s back.”

Blum did clarify that some of Ohtani’s words may have been lost in translation.

Another important element of this story:

Shohei Ohtani said (via interpreter Will Ireton) that he met with the fan who caught the ball.

“I was able to talk to the fan, and was able to get it back.”

Ohtani never met the fan.

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 4, 2024

Los Angeles Times reporter Dylan Hernandez, who is half-Japanese, cleared up that Ireton wasn’t to blame for the confusion. Hernandez said that Ohtani’s words in Japanese were ambiguous and seemed to imply that the Dodgers slugger had spoken to the fan directly.

The Dodgers are reportedly “open to a further conversation” about properly compensating Roman for returning the baseball.

So this is what it’s come to on this app, a bunch of non-Japanese speakers arguing about what Ohtani said.

To be clear: Will Ireton isn’t to blame for the confusion. While Ohtani technically didn’t say that he was the person who spoke to the fan, he made it sound as if he was.

— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) April 5, 2024

Ohtani remains tied to a convoluted sports betting scandal involving his previous interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. Wednesday’s home run ball fiasco has become yet another off-field distraction for the Dodgers’ $700 million dollar man.