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Ohtani pays back teammate in big way for giving up jersey number

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What’s a number worth? To the Los Angeles Dodgers’ new do-everything star Shohei Ohtani, apparently a Porsche.

Ashley Kelly, the wife of Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, shared a video on social media Saturday night of her opening the front door to see a Porsche at the end of their driveway. Confused, Ashley Kelly asks a man at the door, ‘Yes?’ The man points to the car and another voice off camera says, ‘That’s yours. From Shohei. He wanted to gift you a Porsche.’

‘Shut the …,’ Ashley Kelly says immediately after.

Ashley Kelly staged a viral campaign she called #Ohtake17 to lure Ohtani to the Dodgers during which she offered to hand over all of the the household’s Dodgers No. 17 gear and even change her baby’s name from Kai to ShoKai if the two-way star agreed to put on Dodger Blue.

Shortly after the historic deal was announced, Ashley Kelly celebrated the news with a hilarious social media post during which she made good on her offer, tossing a bunch of No. 17 Kelly jerseys and T-shirts on the front lawn. At the end of the video she summons her husband and writes ‘Kelly 99’ on the back of his white T-shirt. Wham’s ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ is played in the background.

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Ohtani, who announced he would be signing a 10-year, $700 million deal on Dec. 9, wore No. 17 during each of his six MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Joe Kelly has worn No. 17 since 2019, 3½ of those seasons with the Dodgers.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY