Boston Red Sox star Masataka Yoshida hit his first career MLB home run on Monday night, but he couldn’t get the ball back from interested fans.
When a baseball leaves the yard at Fenway Park, it’s as good as gone, both figuratively and literally. However, in special cases, it ends up back in the hands of the player who hit said home run.
For Masataka Yoshida, this should have been one of those special cases. The Japanese star signed a lucrative contract with the Boston Red Sox this offseason. While he’s a relative unknown to MLB fans right now, that could change rather quickly if his power output transitions to the big leagues.
Yoshida’s first big-league homer was a blast.
Welcome to the big leagues, Masataka Yoshida! pic.twitter.com/0A4gdZXqjD
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 3, 2023
Welcome to the bigs, indeed. But what happened to the ball itself?
Red Sox fans keep Masataka Yoshida home run ball
The fans who caught Masataka Yoshida’s home run ball reportedly kept it for themselves, rather than bargaining with the Red Sox for a series of tickets and/or autographs.
The first home run ball⚾️ Masataka Yoshida hit last night was taken home by the family who caught it, they turned down several offers. After all, It never came back to him. @RedSox @BH_MASATAKA34
— Carlos Yamazaki (@masashicarlos) April 4, 2023
It should be made clear that until we hear from the fans themselves, we don’t really know what happened. Perhaps the Red Sox offer was underwhelming, or Yoshida himself didn’t care all that much about the ball. it’s always a possibility, just as Albert Pujols allowed fans to keep his 700th home run ball. Sometimes, it ought to be a collectible.
This doesn’t feel like one of those times, however. Hopefully, Yoshida can lay claim to that baseball sooner rather than later.
As for the Red Sox, they lost a nail-biter to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday despite Yoshida’s blast. At 2-2 on the early season, they’ll need more power displays from their newfound star to ensure another series victory over a scrappy Pittsburgh team.