Sports
Dodgers fan pulled switcheroo after catching a 'hated Padre' homer. Why did he keep the ball?
As soon as he heard the crack of the bat, lifelong Dodgers fan Renan Zuniga knew exactly what to do.
The 45-year-old finance manager from Victorville sprung out of his usual seat in the left-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium, jumped as high and stretched as far as he could, and made a fantastic catch to pull down a home run ball San Diego Padres star Manny Machado hit off Dodgers pitcher James Paxton on Sunday evening.
Zuniga wasn’t done with the slick moves. Immediately after landing on his feet and securing the home run ball in the glove on his left hand, Zuniga slipped his right hand into the pocket of his Dodgers jacket, pulled out another ball and threw it onto the field.
It was an attempt to create the illusion that he was tossing back the home run ball hit by an opposing player — something he had no intention of doing with the first home run ball he ever caught on the fly during a baseball game after nearly two decades of trying.
“It was just reactionary,” Zuniga told The Times in a phone interview. “I didn’t even think about it, I just knew what to do because in my head I rehearsed it a million times.”
As it turns out, Zuniga might have been too well prepared for the moment. ESPN aired video of his “hidden ball trick” during its broadcast of the “Sunday Night Baseball” game in which the Padres earned a 6-3 win.
“I caught it and did it all so quickly that the camera still happened to have not panned away from me, you know?” Zuniga said. “And it also didn’t help that it was a nationally televised game too.”
ESPN’s Buster Olney caught up with Zuniga for an in-game interview in which the affable fan admitted he “got caught” while trying to avoid getting “booed mercilessly by the Dodgers faithful” for not throwing back a home run ball hit by a “hated Padre.”
Zuniga was speaking from experience.
He started attending Dodgers games at age 7 with his mother, Joyce, who died in 2021. He now attends 25 to 30 games a year, usually accompanied by either his 19-year-old daughter, Taylor; his 17-year-old nephew, Daniel Villela; his 8-year-old nephew, Mikey Gullart; or his aunt, Avis Latscha (his 24-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, used to attend games with him as well, but she now lives in Omaha).
At Sunday’s game, Villela was with Zuniga.
“I’ve always been enthralled with wanting to catch or get a home run ball,” he told The Times. “I started having season tickets in 2006, and I believe it was Sept. 13, 2007, when I finally got my first home run ball. The Dodgers were playing the Padres, David Wells was pitching, and Morgan Ensberg of the Padres in the sixth inning hits a home run.”
Zuniga had a shot at catching the ball on the fly, but it bounced off his forearm and onto the ground. Still, he was able to grab the ball “a millisecond” before another fan.
“He says, ‘Please don’t throw it back. Give me the ball. I’m a Padres fan,’” Zuniga said. “I look at him and I said, ‘Are you kidding? I am not throwing this ball back. I’m keeping it.’ To me, it’s like, I finally got my first home run ball.”
But Zuniga wasn’t able to explain that to the multitude of Dodgers fans who started chanting, “Throw it back!” at him, as has become tradition at numerous ballparks.
“So normally what will happen is they’ll chant for 10, 15 seconds and if you don’t, you get booed and they move on,” Zuniga said. “On this day, they are not letting it go. … It was kind of like they put a damper on my childhood dream of getting a home run ball.”
Eventually, Zuniga had had enough. He discreetly grabbed another ball he had gotten during batting practice that day and switched it out with the home run ball.
“I stood up. I tossed the ball in the air a few times so people could see I had the ball, and I threw it onto the field,” he said. “And everybody cheered me and everybody got off my back. Since that day, I know to bring a ball with me in case it happens again.”
Since then, Zuniga has come away with two other home run balls that have landed in his vicinity at Dodger Stadium. When the MLB All-Star Game was held at Dodger Stadium in 2022, Zuniga was on hand for the home run derby and caught a ball blasted by former Dodger Albert Pujols, then with the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the only home run ball, outside of batting practice, that Zuniga had caught on the fly.
San Diego Padres designated hitter Manny Machado hits a home run during the fourth inning against the Dodgers on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)
Until Sunday. Now the home run balls hit by Pujols and Machado sit in a place of honor in his man cave — even though the recent addition was hit by someone Zuniga said is “in my top five of my least favorite players in all of Major League Baseball” — among his extensive collection of Dodgers memorabilia. That collection also includes 30 baseballs individually autographed by every member of the 2020 World Series champion team and “every bobblehead ever given out at Dodger Stadium.”
Zuniga joked with Olney that his wife, Keli, would be mad at him for bringing home yet another ball.
So, was she?
“This moment was kind of big,” he said, “so I think I got a free pass on this one.”
He also seems to have gotten a free pass from fans, rather than the anger or jeering he might have been expecting.
“My friends, my family, my co-workers, the softball players I play with — everyone has been giving me a lot of positive feedback,” Zuniga said. “It’s weird that me getting quote-unquote busted on camera has turned into a funny moment for everybody.
“People are reaching out, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you remember me, I used to work with you. I saw you on TV. That was great!’ I believe everybody in the world is just getting the biggest kick out of this.”
The Lakers are one playoff defeat from their season being over and from the conversation turning to LeBron James’ future.
They are in a hole no team has climbed out of in the history of the NBA, the Lakers’ 131-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 putting L.A. down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
James and his teammates gave a gallant effort Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, but the defending champion proved to be more than the Lakers could handle.
James finished his night with 19 points on seven-for-19 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds. Rui Hachimura had 21 points and Austin Reaves finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Even so, the Lakers have now lost all three games by double digits.
And the Lakers are fully aware that no NBA team has successfully come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, with those teams holding a 161-0 record. Only four teams have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all of which ultimately lost the series, including the Boston Celtics in 2023.
Lakers forward LeBron James shows frustration as Thunder center Chet Holmgren slam dunks during Game 3 on Saturday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Game 4 is Monday night, when the Lakers will try to stave off elimination and a night that will determine how the conversations go with James if they lose.
James has been frequently asked this season about retirement, but he has not given any indication of what the future holds for him.
He’s 41 years old and playing in an NBA-record 23rd season.
James is in the final year of his contract that pays him $52 million, making him a free agent this offseason. He can retire, join another team or perhaps return to the Lakers next season.
That will be the conversation if the Lakers can’t win Game 4.
They will see the same Thunder team that had seven players score in double figures, led by Ajay Mitchell’s 24 points and 10 assists and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 23 points and nine assists.
The Lakers went down 13 in the third quarter and had to play catchup the rest of the way. They never did, going down by 112-94 with 6 minutes and 12 seconds left, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout.
The deficit just kept growing, topping out at 27 points in the fourth.
They were outscored 33-20 in the third quarter. The Lakers didn’t take care of the basketball in the third, turning it over six times, and they didn’t play good defense, allowing the Thunder to shoot 59.1% from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range,
The Lakers did not give an inch to the Thunder in the first half, even when they fell behind by 10 points.
They just kept grinding until they led 59-57 at halftime.
Hachimura had 16 points in the first half, continuing his hot three-point shooting by making all four of his threes. Luke Kennard came off the bench to give the Lakers 13 points, shooting five for six from the field and three for four from three-point range.
The Lakers kept the pressure defense on Gilgeous-Alexander. Though he had 14 points in the first half, he shot only four for 14 from the field and one for five from three-point range.
The Lakers shot 55% from three-point range in the first half, which went a long way in helping them.
The Lakers lost the first two games by identical margins of 18 points and each loss was magnified because Gilgeous-Alexander was kept under wraps for the most part by L.A.’s defense.
When Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul with 10:34 left in the third quarter of Game 2 and went to the bench, the Thunder turned a five-point lead into a 13-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
So, when he wasn’t on the court, the Lakers failed to take advantage.
“Well, you know, again, I’ll repeat what I said after the game: we’ve got to be better in the non-Shai minutes,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
Role players like Mitchell and Jared McCain hurt the Lakers in the second game. Chet Holmgren also was hard to deal with.
“Mitchell and McCain have hurt us in those non-Shai minutes, and then Chet [Holmgren] has hurt us the whole game,” Redick said. “I think you’ve got to be willing to live with something. Shai playing one-on-one, thus far in the series, we haven’t been willing to live with, so you’re going to be in rotation. That can lead to smalls on bigs at the hole, and the offensive rebounding from Chet has really hurt us.”
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In 2025, Alex Palou kicked off the Month of May with a Sonsio Grand Prix win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Based on the odds, it’s likely that Palou will find himself in Winner’s Circle again this Saturday when INDYCAR goes back to IMS on May 9 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Considering Palou has already captured the checkered flag three times this season, are there any other drivers whose odds are worth a wager?
Here are the latest lines at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 9.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Sonsio Grand Prix 2026
Àlex Palou: 5/18 (bet $10 to win $12.78 total)
Kyle Kirkwood: 5/1 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Pato O’Ward: 12/1 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
David Malukas: 14/1 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Josef Newgarden: 16/1 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Scott McLaughlin: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Christian Lundgaard: 30/1 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Scott Dixon: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Will Power: 60/1 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Felix Rosenqvist: 80/1 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alexander Rossi: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Ericsson: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Armstrong: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Christian Rasmussen: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Graham Rahal: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Louis Foster: 300/1 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Dennis Hauger: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Romain Grosjean: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Santino Ferrucci: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Rinus Veekay: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Kyffin Simpson: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Caio Collet: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Sting Ray Robb: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Nolan Siegel: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Mick Schumacher: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:
Heavy Favorite: It doesn’t look like Alex Palou’s dominance will be slowing down anytime soon. As noted above, he’s already won three of the five races since the INDYCAR season started in March. With 186 laps led, Palou sits first in the standings and has the shortest odds to win the title again. Last season, he started from the pole and led 29 laps before winning the race.
Long Shot to Watch: While his odds of 150/1 to win at IMS are much longer than Palou’s, Graham Rahal is one to watch. At this race in 2025, he started second and led 49 laps before finishing sixth. He finished second at this course in 2015, 2020 and 2023. He’s currently 10th in the INDYCAR standings, with one top five and three top 10s.
Sports
Prep talk: Southern Section Division 1 semifinals features matchup of boys’ volleyball powers
Get ready for the best high school boys’ volleyball action in the nation on Saturday when four powers face off in the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals.
First up is Huntington Beach hosting No. 1-seeded Mira Costa at 1 p.m. Then it’s Loyola hosting Redondo Union at 5 p.m.
All are capable of beating each other.
Teams are finally healthy, so there could be two five-game matches.
Mira Costa remains the team to beat with a 31-2 record and having the No. 1 college recruit from the class of 2027, Mateo Fuerbringer. Redondo Union owns one of those losses. Loyola is healthier than it’s ever been and has a five-game win over Redondo Union and a five-game loss to Mira Costa. Huntington Beach has two three-game losses to Mira Costa.
The championship match will be next weekend at Cerritos College, followed by the Southern California regional and state championships.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
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