Shohei Ohtani gifts Porsche to supportive wife of teammate who gave up uniform number

Shohei Ohtani is known for his hitting and pitching, and he certainly hit one out of the park this weekend.

>> Read more trending news

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ newest player, who agreed to an MLB record 10-year, $700 million contract on Dec. 9, gifted a Porsche to Ashley Kelly, the wife of teammate Joe Kelly, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Kelly, a reliever for the Dodgers, wore No. 17, which is the number that Ohtani wore for the crosstown Angels, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Ashley Kelly spearheaded a tongue-in-cheek campaign to lure Ohtani to the Dodgers by offering up her husband’s jersey number, the Times reported.

Her campaign paid off, at least for her. On Friday night she posted a video showing her looking out of her front door at the Porsche, which was parked at the curb in front of her home, ESPN reported.

“It’s yours. From Shohei,” the delivery driver told her. “He wanted to gift you a Porsche.”

Joe Kelly had worn No. 17 since 2019. He will now wear No. 99 for the Dodgers, according to ESPN. That number was last worn by pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu, the Times reported.

“I wasn’t going to give it up to just anybody,” Kelly said after Ohtani’s contract was announced. “If Shohei keeps performing, he’ll be a future Hall of Famer and I’ll be able to have my number retired. That’s the closest I’ll get to the Hall of Fame.”

Joe Kelly was asked what he wanted in return, the Times reported.

“Oh there’s a list, but no comment,” he told reporters.

Ashley Kelly, meanwhile, was more than happy with her gift. Before receiving it, and after learning about Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers, she posted a video on Instagram showing her tossing No. 17 Joe Kelly Dodgers gear around the front yard of the family’s house. When Joe Kelly walked out of the front door, she turned him around and wrote a “99″ on the back of his white T-shirt.

She had some fun, but certainly did not expect the gift from her husband’s new teammate.