LOS ANGELES — Roofing contractor Alfredo Martinez Garcia doesn’t wear a uniform for either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Angels baseball teams, but he quickly became one of the most famous individuals at Dodger Stadium during the cross-town rivalry series earlier this season.
Garcia, owner of Arrow Construction, based in Lompoc, Calif., muscled his way to secure a mammoth home run ball clubbed by Dodger superstar Shohei Ohtani during a 7-2 Dodger victory June 22. He was sitting amongst hundreds of roofing contractors in attendance in the right-center bleachers as part of GAF’s Latinos in Roofing West Expo.
“I told the gentleman that he was about to get swarmed by people, to keep the ball, and to not let anyone hold it because they can easily take it from him,” said roofing contractor Marcos Sierra, shown here counseling fellow roofer Alfredo Martinez Garcia about the Shohei Ohtani home run ball he just caught at Dodger Stadium June 22. “I said that the best thing to do was to put it in his pocket.”
Credit: Art Aisner
Once the excitement of the game-changing moment faded, a new realization honed in on Garcia – and scores of fans that converged around him for a glimpse of the ball, and perhaps a chance with fate. Ohtani, just 29 and only in his sixth season, is already the most prolific Japanese-born home run hitter in Major League Baseball history. As a dominant two-way player – though he isn’t pitching this season due to injury – “Shotime” is on pace for the Hall-of-Fame. One of the most famous athletes on the planet, he signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers over the winter.
As the Dodgers head toward the postseason and with Ohtani in pursuit of becoming baseball’s first 50-50 player (home runs/stolen bases), the ball now in Garcia’s pocket had much more than just sentimental value.
Several roofing contractors sitting around Garcia began to counsel him on whether to accept cash offers for the home run ball, which was hit a whopping 459 feet, surpassing the 455-foot bomb Ohtani smacked the night before.
“I told the gentleman that he was about to get swarmed by people, to keep the ball, and to not let anyone hold it because they can easily take it from him,” said Marcos Sierra, owner of Sierra Group Roofing & Solar in Arkansas. “I said that the best thing to do was to put it in his pocket.”
Nearly all of the roofers and other fans sitting in the bleachers cheered, repeatedly chanting for Garcia to ‘keep the ball!”
“It was awesome and sad at the same time, because I’m not who grabbed it,” said roofer Adan Gudino, with Heavenly Roofing in Ephrata, Was. “But I was happy for the guy.”
Garcia seemed surprise by all the attention, and Gudino said he explained why so many people were interested in the ball.
“I told him that (Ohtani) was a sensation in Japan and he recently signed a $700 million contract. So I said don’t sell, hold onto it and it might be worth so much more later.”
The ball’s true value is undeterminable now and relies on several factors due to Ohtani’s progressing career trajectory, but it’s sure to have substantial worth given his enormous potential.
His first home run ball hit as a Dodger earlier this season had an estimated value of $100,000, according to published reports. The woman who got it handed it back to the Dodgers in exchange for a pair of autographed hats, an autographed bat and autographed ball. Fan backlash after reports of the “low-ball” exchange became public prompted the team to invite the woman back to Dodger Stadium for a meet-and-greet with the Dodgers designated hitter.