Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the latest professional athlete to have his home burglarized while playing a road game.
Burglars reportedly tried to break into the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ ace starting pitcher’s home in the Hollywood Hills less than 48 hours after he led Los Angeles to victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.
Yamamoto is 9-7 with a 2.63 ERA for the Dodgers and leads them with 21 starts for the injury-laden pitching staff.
What Happened To Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s House?
Yamamoto dominated the Reds on Monday night, tossing seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball while striking out nine and walking only two for his ninth win of the season in LA’s 5-2 win at Great American Ballpark, which snapped its mini two-game losing streak.
The team fed off his start and won its second straight in Cincinnati, 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Yet, while Yamamoto and his teammates were sleeping — or just waking up to eat breakfast — 2,000-plus miles to the east on Wednesday morning, three people tried to enter his home by climbing his back fence and breaking the glass of his back door at about 5:30 a.m. PT, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Fortunately for Yamamoto, he has staff living at his home who were awake, and the vandals fled after the staff member turned on a light outside the home. That staff member contacted security who alerted Los Angeles police.
The prospective burglars may have gotten away, but the trio of vandals did show up on security footage trying to break into Yamamoto’s home.
What Other Athletes Have Had Homes Burglarized?
The troika attempting to enter Yamamoto’s home may not be linked to the recent rash of pro-athlete home break-ins over the past year, but it does continue the trend of high-profile break-ins and vandalisms of pro-athlete residences that started in 2024.
The FBI and pro sports leagues NFL and NBA issued instructions in December to players to keep their belongings secure and refrain from sharing valuables on social media in an effort to keep them safe from burglaries.
Yamamoto was the first reported baseball player to have his home targeted, but he was not the only Los Angeles-based athlete to have his home broken into. Luka Doncic, now of the Los Angeles Lakers, had his home burgled when he was a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
NBC LA also reported members of the Los Angeles Rams were targeted, and LAFC star Olivier Giroud had his home in West Los Angeles burglarized in February.
NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were targeted while they played on Monday Night Football last fall, and Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow also was a target while playing a road game on Monday Night Football — against the Dallas Cowboys — last December.
The fall was the height of break-ins and burglaries, since the above-listed NFL players, along with high-profile NBA players like Ja Morant, Karl-Anthony Towns and Bobby Portis, all were victims of home break-ins.
Seven Chilean men were arrested in February in connection with the burglaries, using fake IDs and rented cars to gain access. They reportedly stole jewelry, money and other valuable items and tried to pawn them for money.
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