Shohei Ohtani’s “moonshot” NLCS Game 4 homerun ball expected to auction for $1M+
By Julie Sharp
Click here for updates on this story
LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A blue-stamped “Dodger Stadium Oct 17 ’25 Los Angeles, CA 90012” baseball up for auction is expected to sell for over $1 million, and it’s no average ball; it’s Shohei Ohtani’s “moonshot” ball.
The “moonshot” ball launched from Ohtani’s bat and out of the stadium during the NLCS Game 4. A fan eating nachos outside stadium seating saw it all go down and snatched the ball from the bushes where it landed.
SCP Auctions just listed the ball at a minimum $200,000 bid, with a Letter of Provenance from Carlo Mendoza – the fan who found the ball –offering a time-lined affidavit of his discovery.
Mendoza said in the letter that he and his friend were on a snack break during the third inning, and they watched on the big screen as Ohtani stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fourth.
“Suddenly, I heard a ball bounce on top of the pavilion roof beyond the right-centerfield bleachers and saw it land in the bushes/planters maybe 10 to 20 feet away from me,” Mendoza stated in the Letter of Provenance.
“Immediately, I dove into the bushes and pounced on it before anyone else could.”
The auction site noted that “The 469-foot estimate did not do it justice. Nobody had ever come close to hitting a ball out there.”
Mike Keys, SCP Auctions chief operating officer, said, “A similar ball hit by his cohort, Freddie Freeman, last year in the World Series, sold for $1,560,000 at our auction house.”
The “moonshot” ball is Ohtani’s second of three home runs in the Oct. 17 game, and “This was the one that took everyone’s breath away,” SCP Auctions wrote. The auction site professes 100% certainty in the legitimacy of the ball.
“Not one person has come forward to dispute its rightful ownership. Carlo even passed a polygraph test, the results of which will be provided to the winning bidder,” SCP Auctions wrote.
Bidding for Ohtani’s “moonshot” ball will continue through Nov. 22.
Ohtani’s 50/50 ball sold for $4.39 million last year.
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.