Shohei Ohtani Surprises Ashley Kelly, Wife of Dodgers Pitcher, with Porsche in Jersey Number Exchange

What is the worth of a jersey number? To Shohei Ohtani, the versatile star of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it appears to be a Porsche.

Over the weekend, Ashley Kelly, the wife of Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, posted a video on social media capturing the moment she opened her front door to find a Porsche parked at the end of their driveway. Perplexed, Ashley asked a man at the door, “Yes?” The man pointed to the car, and another voice off-camera revealed, “That’s yours. From Shohei. He wanted to gift you a Porsche.”

“Shut the …,” exclaimed a surprised Ashley Kelly.

Earlier, Ashley had initiated a viral campaign called #Ohtake17 in an attempt to lure Ohtani to the Dodgers. As part of her efforts, she offered to relinquish all the household’s Dodgers No. 17 gear and even suggested changing her baby’s name from Kai to ShoKai if the versatile star agreed to join the Dodger Blue.

Following the announcement of the groundbreaking deal, Ashley celebrated the news with a humorous social media post. In the video, she fulfilled her promise by tossing a collection of No. 17 Kelly jerseys and T-shirts onto the front lawn. Towards the end of the clip, she called her husband and inscribed “Kelly 99” on the back of his white T-shirt, all set to the backdrop of Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Ohtani, who confirmed his 10-year, $700 million deal on Dec. 9, consistently wore No. 17 during his six MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Joe Kelly has donned the No. 17 jersey since 2019, with 3½ of those seasons spent with the Dodgers.