Shohei Ohtani's World Baseball Classic jersey sells for $1.5 million

[p]Ohtani, 31, hit a grand slam during Team Japan's 13-0 win over Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) during the Pool stage of the tournament. His homer came during a historic moment in which Japan's 10 runs in the second inning were the most ever by a team in one inning in World Baseball Classic history.[/p][embed guid="32dcbacb-6cd2-4f4d-a7f5-32d8dd616de8" url="https://x.com/goatcollect/status/2035901785773355221?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The previous record high for an Ohtani jersey was a game-worn jersey signed "24 NL MVP" that sold for $249,999. Ohtani also had another jersey from the 2023 World Baseball Classic that sold for just over $126,000. [/p][p]Ohtani finished the 2026 WBC with three homers and seven RBI, five of which came from the win over Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), with a .462 batting average. After Japan swept the Pool stage, going 4-0, they would lose to eventual WBC champions Venezuela during the quarter-finals. [/p][p]The reigning back-to-back National League MVP is coming off back-to-back World Series wins with the Los Angeles Dodgers and has established himself as the best baseball player in the world and arguably the greatest to ever do it. [/p][embed guid="dbdb920d-5c47-482e-a829-25e3a966bd2b" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRwrB45_qMg" social-type="youtube" /][p]However, none of the jerseys came close to the 50-50 ball that sold for a record-breaking $4.39 million when Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.[/p][p]The Dodgers' season begins on March 26th against the Arizona Diamondbacks. [/p][embed guid="b224dc16-5ac1-404f-8559-62647c7ab449" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jYfC4YYXIw&t=48s" social-type="youtube" /]