Shohei Ohtani Is Fanatics Best Selling New Jersey Of All Time

The Ohtani effect is real.

Not only is the star two-way baseball player breaking records when it comes to his 10-year, $700 million brand new deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he's doing so in the apparel game as well.

Fanatics announced that the new Ohtani Dodgers jersey is the fastest selling one ever for a new jersey within 48 hours. To put that in perspective, Ohtani surpassed the likes of Mookie Betts when he also went to the Dodgers, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, and when LeBron went to the Lakers. Not too bad!

OHTANI SIGNED 10-YEAR / $700 MILLION DEAL

The sports apparel company expected big numbers for whichever team Ohtani was going to eventually end up signing with. The fact that he went to Los Angeles however - that already has a large Asian fanbase, a competitive and longstanding (and national) baseball club as the Dodgers, and just weeks before Santa was going to leave presents under the Christmas tree only helped the record-setting figure.

Fans can either purchase an adult replica jersey for $134.99 or an authentic jersey for $174.99. Only the white home field jerseys are available with the away jerseys expected to be released at a later date.

By the way the real unsung hero of this whole story is Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly who originally had No. 17 on the team. In fact, the Dodgers reportedly called Kelly to see if he would be willing to give up Ohtani's number should they end up getting him. Realizing how big of a deal it would be for Ohtani, Kelly agreed, although I would have loved to have seen what would have happened if he didn't. Imagine if Ohtani didn't come to the Dodgers because JOE KELLY wouldn't give him his jersey number?!