Walking into Coors Field for a June matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies, Emily Sauvageau’s father joked Shohei Ohtani would hit a home run into the left-field stands, and Emily would catch it.
The Sauvageaus have had season tickets all of Emily’s life, front row over the wall in left. Her dad has caught more than 100 home runs over the years at the hitter-friendly park. But until that day, Emily had never caught a live home run — despite attending more than 800 games.
However, her father’s intuition would come true when, in the sixth inning of the June 24 game, Ohtani hit an opposite-field home run.
“As soon as the ball was hit, he moved out of my way so I could cut in front of him,” Sauvageau told cllct about how her father helped her quest. “I just stuck my glove out and basket-caught it. It was pretty cool. I threw my hands up I was so excited.”
Sauvageau, who is entering her senior year of college at Adams State where she plays first base on the softball team, is no stranger to flashing some leather. Earlier this year she became the first player in program history to earn the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Golden Glove Award.
Soon after catching the ball, a Japanese reporter approached her for an interview in the stands. Only then was she informed the ball she caught was Ohtani’s 300th professional home run (combined between Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball). After the interview, Emily told her father it was a milestone ball.
“No, I looked it up, it was only 252,” he replied, not counting Ohtani's Japanese home runs.
After the game a friend who was familiar with memorabilia told them it might be worth something, and after being promised prime real estate as lot No. 1 in Lelands Auctions, the ball was consigned.
Sauvageau plans to split the money with her younger brother.
With a current bid of $25,000, the ball is set to sell this Saturday. The next day, Sauvageau plans to head back to school for her senior year.
“It’s gonna be a crazy weekend.”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.