Shohei Ohtani gifted new teammate Joe Kelly’s wife with a new Porsche Panamera, a sports car with a sticker price between $100,000 and $200,000, when the Dodgers reliever agreed to give his jersey No. 17 to the two-way star after Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million deal with the Dodgers in mid-December.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts received a similar gift from Ohtani on Friday, but it was more of the gag variety, a mauve-colored model Porsche with a sticker price of … between $100 and $200.
Read more: Ohtani hits one out of the park, gifting a Porsche to Dodger pitcher Joe Kelly’s wife days before Christmas
The car, which Roberts is displaying on the desk in his Dodger Stadium office, was apparently given to the manager to mark Ohtani tying Roberts’ franchise record for home runs by a Japanese-born player, which stood at seven entering Saturday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Ohtani hit a solo home run to right field in the third inning Saturday to pass Roberts’ mark.
“A Japanese-born player who is about to break my Dodgers record [for home runs by a Japanese-born player] very soon, brought a gift, a Porsche,” Roberts told reporters Saturday afternoon, building suspense with his setup.
“He brought it into my office … so there is context. He did buy me a car. And I guess I didn’t specify what type of car [I wanted]. So Shohei did bring in a nice little Porsche for me, so I can’t say he never gave me anything.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
