If you were woken in the wee hours of Monday morning by the distant crack of a baseball bat, fear not. It wasn’t robbers or your ex wrecking your car. It was just aliens … specifically one named Shohei Ohtani. In his return to Samurai pinstripes for the time since 2016, Ohtani launched a 420-foot missile from one knee in Japan’s World Baseball Classic warm-up against the Hanshin Tigers, sending the jam-packed Kyocera Dome into rapture. Marvel at this moonshot, will ya.
That is one massive tater. An absolutely humongous spud. Japan’s adoring masses went bananas, and lucky for them they got an almost frame-for-frame recreation a few innings later when Ohtani went yard again.
Inhuman stuff. Ohtani finished the night two for three with two homers and six RBIs. On Thursday, he’s scheduled to take the bump against China and will likely be throwing triple-digit gas. Set the DVR for 5 a.m. and put a pot of coffee on, because one way or another you'll be witnessing history.
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