For the very first time in a year, Shohei Ohtani took the field for a regular-season video game at Angel Stadium on Tuesday. This time, he did so in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform.
The reception as Ohtani strolled to the batter’s box recorded numerous aspects of his exit and return from the franchise with which he invested the very first 6 seasons of his MLB profession. There were primarily cheers, showing his MVP-level success (and likely more than a couple of Dodger fans in presence). There were a couple of boos, showing that not everybody enjoyed to see him sign a $700 million agreement with a crosstown competitor.
And it simply wasn’t a complete crowd, showing just how much the franchise lost when he disappeared.
The Angels didn’t deal with Ohtani’s return with excessive respect. The Athletic’s Sam Blum reported that since Monday, there were no strategies to honor Ohtani before the video game, which primarily held.
The group had a graphic revealing his achievements– Rookie of the Year, 2 MVPs, 2 Silver Sluggers– however played a video just on social networks. It’s most likely worth mentioning that they did play a video when Ohtani went to for a spring training video game.
The Angels likewise had some enjoyable with Ohtani, dropping “Used to work here” as his enjoyable reality on the videoboard in the 5th inning.
Ohtani grounded out to initially in his very first at-bat however came through for an RBI triple to connect the video game in his next journey to the plate. He completed 1-for-4 with 2 runs scored in the Dodgers’ 6-2 triumph in 10 innings.
Ohtani contributed in the additional innings, as the Angels purposefully strolled him in the 10th to reach Mookie Betts instead of face their old super star. Betts reacted with a game-winning, three-run homer.
It wasn’t the very first time the Angels made the tough choice to let Ohtani walk.
Shohei Ohtani will constantly become part of Angels history
The video game was Ohtani’s very first at Angel Stadium in a going to uniform, on the anniversary of his last video game in an Angels uniform. Ohtani played his very first 6 MLB seasons in Anaheim, outshining the outsized expectations he showed up with as a prominent possibility out of Japan.
Hailed as the Japanese Babe Ruth, Ohtani signed with the Angels in 2017 at 23 years of ages and rapidly provided on his pledge as a generational two-way gamer. He made AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 while growing at the plate and in restricted looks on the mound.
In his very first MLB season, Ohtani slashed.285/.361/.564 with 22 crowning achievement, 61 RBI and 10 taken bases. He published a 3.31 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings pitched through 10 starts. The project set the table for high expectations in Anaheim with Ohtani paired together with Mike Trout, who won his 3rd MVP prize one season later on.