Ryan Wold nearly had history within his grasp. Instead it grazed off his fingertips. Max Matus actually had history in his hand, but eventually lost his grip.
Both of them were on hand Thursday for the Dodgers-Miami Marlins game at LoanDepot Park, where L.A. superstar Shohei Ohtani became the first MLB player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.
Perhaps you’ve seen videos of the mad scramble in the left-center field stands following Ohtani’s 50th home run. Wold is the guy in the Marlins tank top who had the first two shots at snagging the historic ball.
“It went above us and I saw it ricochet. I tried to get it at that time, but I was a little far at that point,” Wold told The Times in a phone interview Friday.
That man, who appears to be in his 40s, eventually emerged with the ball, as a clearly frustrated Max Matus looked on. Greg Matus told The Times on Friday that his son is “obviously upset about it, but he’s doing fine.”
The man who got the 50-50 ball immediately was whisked away by security. He reportedly was taken to an undisclosed location where the authenticity of his ball was verified by the league. The man also reportedly kept the ball rather than give it to the Dodgers. Ohtani said after the game that he hadn’t received the ball.