RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The bidding has already passed $190,000, but according to Scott Keeney, better known to the world as DJ Skee, whatever price Shohei Ohtani’s 2025 MLB Tokyo Series game-worn cleats ultimately sell for, it will probably be a bargain.
“Whatever price these go for, they’re already at an all-time record,” said Keeney, the Founder and CEO of authenticated memorabilia platform The Realest. “But you and I are gonna be sitting here like, ‘Why didn’t we just pool our money together? We knew this was gonna happen.’ It’s so obvious in hindsight.”
Shohei Ohtani ’s game-worn New Balance 1 cleats from the 2025 Tokyo Series, featuring his rare Japanese Kanji signature across the toe, “Opening Day” inscriptions, and authentic Tokyo Dome infield dirt. (Photo: Courtesy of The Realest)
The current leading bid sits at a staggering $190,055 with just under four days remaining, yet the hype surrounding these cleats feels entirely justified. This isn’t just a pair of game worn shoes; it is a cultural artifact representing the epicenter of global baseball culture.
The cleats were worn by Ohtani during his first MLB game back in his home country, shortly after winning the World Series. They are his inaugural signature shoe, the New Balance Ohtani 1, painted in a Player Exclusive gray, blue, and red colorway to match the Dodgers’ road uniforms. Furthermore, they feature artwork of Ohtani’s dog, Decoy (Deko-pin), bear his exceedingly rare Japanese Kanji signature, and are physically caked in genuine infield dirt from the Tokyo Dome.
The heels of Ohtani’s Tokyo Series cleats feature custom artwork of his famous dog, Decoy (Deko-pin), derived from illustrations in his best-selling Japanese children’s book. (Photo: Courtesy of The Realest)
“For Michael Jordan , the Air Jordan 1 will always hold a place because it’s the inaugural signature shoe,” Keeney explained, drawing a parallel to the most significant sneaker in history. “For baseball, this is truly as good as it gets. You can make the argument that it is his most important cleats ever. But the one thing you can say definitively is that it is his most important cleats ever to hit the market.”
Memorabilia as the New Fine Art
To Keeney, a pair of game-worn sneakers holding this much history shouldn’t be treated like a simple retail transaction. That’s why The Realest hosted a private viewing for the cleats at Yamashiro Hollywood, displaying the shoes with the reverence of a museum exhibition.
Keeney believes the cultural weight of sports memorabilia has evolved, particularly for Millennials and Gen Z, bypassing traditional fine art in its ability to evoke genuine passion.
He recently visited the headquarters of a major New York banking institution that boasted an incredible, priceless art collection. “I told them, ‘If you had Jalen Brunson’s jersey in here from the Finals… you would get more attention than a Picasso,'” Keeney recalled. “People would be logging up and taking pictures, and they’re not doing that with the art… I think that that’s why these are going to become institutional.”
For Keeney, game-worn memorabilia is the undisputed “next frontier” of the collectibles space. Unlike trading cards, which rely on manufactured scarcity, game-worn items offer true, irreplicable historical connections.
“These are things that would have every right to live in a museum 100 years from now telling the story and the history of baseball,” Keeney said. “Regardless if there’s another player, he is the Babe Ruth of our time.”
Why The Realest Was Born
The passion Keeney has for the Ohtani cleats is exactly what drove him to create The Realest in the first place. Prior to launching the company, Keeney ran a fund in the space, investing in platforms like Whatnot and buying million-dollar sports cards. But the memorabilia sector had a fatal flaw: rampant fraud.
“I have bought stuff and got burned on existing auction sites, including some of the bigger ones,” Keeney admitted. “I realized that I’m in a position of privilege from those things, so I can imagine the everyday collector… If somebody buys something that’s fake, they’re probably burned forever.”
Realizing nobody was adequately tackling the problem, Keeney built The Realest to serve as a “proven trust layer”. The platform works directly with teams, leagues, and athletes at the source, utilizing proprietary covert markings to guarantee that items like jerseys haven’t been tampered with.
“I did not look at launching a business… we did it out of need,” Keeney noted. “I really built it for myself. I wanted a place that was trustworthy, and we realized there was just this enormous opportunity.”
The Music Publishing Model for Sports
The Realest’s proprietary authentication technology goes beyond just protecting fans. The platform has changed the economics of the memorabilia industry by generating perpetual royalties on secondary market resales for teams and athletes.
Keeney compares secondary sports memorabilia sales to music publishing, where artists and their estates earn royalties long after a song is released.
“When a Michael Jordan jersey sells for millions, its value doesn’t come from the reseller who flipped it, it comes from Jordan, the NBA, and the Bulls,” Keeney explained. “Yet historically, they’ve never gotten a cut of those secondary sales. We’re bringing a music industry model to sports so athletes, teams, and their families actually participate in their own legacy.”
By ensuring the provenance of the item remains intact forever, The Realest aligns the incentives of the rights holders with the collectors.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” Keeney added. “And our authentication uniquely unlocks it. We’re not just doing it from a position of, ‘Hey, pay us.’ We’re going through this process to guarantee that it’s real and stand by it.”
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