Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Dodgers) was mentioned once again along with major league legend Babe Bruce.
Ohtani was the second designated hitter in the 2024 MLB game against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on the 22nd (Korea time) and recorded two hits in three at-bats (one home run), two RBIs, one walk, one strikeout, and two runs.
With seven consecutive hits, Ohtani raised his batting average for the season from 0.359 to 0.368.
Having a hit in his first at-bat, Ohtani retired and hit the homer he had been waiting for in his second at-bat. With one out and runners on first and one out in the bottom of the third inning at 0-0, Ohtani hit his second slider at 81.7 miles per hour, which flew well over the right fence. It was a huge homerun that flew 110 miles (177 kilometers) and had a driving distance of 423 feet (128 meters). The homerun became the 176th in the Major League, beating “legendary” Hideki Matsui. He set a new record for most home runs by a Japanese major leaguer.
Having signed a 10-year contract worth 700 million U.S. dollars to join the Dodgers in the offseason, Ohtani had a hard time hitting a home run early this season. He has not been able to hit a home run in eight games since the opening game. For this reason, Ohtani has not hit a home run for the longest time since the opening game since his big league debut.
Then, he finally hit his first home run in his last at-bat against the San Francisco Giants on the 4th. It was his 41st at-bat since the season opened.
That’s when Ohtani’s home run instinct began. Ohtani scored in two consecutive games against the Chicago Cubs the next day, and hit his third homer of the season against the Minnesota Twins on the 9th. Ohtani then hit his fourth homerun in his first at-bat with the San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King on the 13th. With this homer, Ohtani is tying with “Godzilla” Matsui’s record of 175 home runs in the Major League.
But there was no home run again. He was silent for seven consecutive games. He never went more than 10 games. He drew Archie after eight games.
With this home run, Ohtani was mentioned again with legend Babe Ruth. Meanwhile, Ohtani has left his mark in MLB history, breaking Ruth’s various records with his pitches.
This time, he came up with parallel theory with Ruth.
First, it’s Ruth. Ruth hit her 176th career home run in her 725th game. Ohtani hit 176 home runs in her 740th game. It’s very similar.
The same goes for pitchers. Ohtani has 38 wins in 481 innings so far. Ruth has 37 wins in 481 innings.
Japan’s Sponizia Nex couldn’t hide its surprise after seeing such a similar record, saying, “It’s an amazing synchronization with the god of baseball. Can Ohtani be one of the legends?”