Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are still Los Angeles Angels teammates (for at least the next few months), so it’s only right that they revisit their unforgettable meeting in the climactic finish to the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Ohtani took the mound to record the final three outs of Japan’s 3-2 victory over Team USA in the WBC championship game, finishing off his save with a dramatic strikeout of USA’s captain — Trout — in the superstar duo’s first-ever showdown in a formal game.
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Relive Shohei Ohtani vs Mike Trout in its entirety pic.twitter.com/8ln13dH3fC
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 22, 2023
Now, the moment is memorialized in true classic baseball fashion — a Topps Now “moments” card. And Trout revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday that there are now three authentic, personally autographed copies of those cards signed by both of the Angels’ stars.
“A Troutani ‘signature’ moment we’ll never forget” Trout wrote with a grimacing emoji. He was also scowling in the picture, perhaps playing up his disappointment that he came up on the wrong end of the showdown, while Ohtani and his translator Ippei Mizuhara stood next to Trout smiling.
It’s unknown whether any of the cards will be put up for sale, which would likely cause a massive bidding frenzy in the sports collectibles market.
Unfortunately for the Angels, that World Baseball Classic championship game is probably the closest their two stars will come to a playoff atmosphere this season. Despite going all-in at the trade deadline in the final season before Ohtani hits free agency, the Angels have lost seven of their last 10 games and have fallen seven games out of the final wild-card spot in the American League.
