Watch: Ohtani-mania in full effect after his first at-bat in the first home game resulted in first MLB home run

At approximately 7:54 p.m. West Coast time, the internet melted down.

In his first at-bat in front of the home fans in Anaheim, two-way wonder Shohei Ohtani swung at a 2-2 curveball from Josh Tomlin and lofted a fly ball to center field. Watching on television, it looked like a routine fly ball hit off the end of Ohtani’s black bat, except the center fielder kept drifting back, the ball kept carrying and maybe the baseball gods lent a helpful hand at the last instant to push the ball into the first row of stands.

 

The home run was an impressive display of Ohtani’s raw power that scouts have raved about — yet it still felt unexpected and wonderful, a moment that makes you scream “Yes!” in unfiltered enthusiasm. That wasn’t even the best part of the home run.

He swung with a slight twist of the hips, cocking his bat into position and following through with his front foot pointed to the mound instead of using the high leg kick he used in Japan, finishing off his swing as if he were hitting a 2-iron at Augusta. He took off out of the box — he wasn’t immediately sure it was out — and as he rounded third base tried to suppress a smile. As he crossed home plate and returned to the dugout, the Angels gave him the cold shoulder. That wasn’t the best part.

Angels fans erupted in joy, jumping up and down, raising their hands over their heads in exultation and high-fiving their neighbors. They stood on their feet, gave Othani a curtain call and he hopped out of the dugout and tipped his helmet. That still wasn’t the best part.

The best moment of the moment came after his teammates ignored Ohtani, a long-standing tradition when a player hits his first major league home run. Bench coach Josh Paul didn’t even look at him as he stepped down into the dugout. Angels players remained lined up along the railing. Yet there was Ohtani, a smile as wide as the Pacific, waving his hands over his head in the empty dugout. He was so happy. He grabbed Ian Kinsler because he had to hug somebody. Finally, his teammates turned around and mobbed him.

That moment of pure happiness on Ohtani’s face was beautiful. It was a 5-year-old kid blowing out the candles at a birthday party. That was the best part. As David Ross said in the ESPN booth during the Angels’ 13-2 win over the Indians, “Just a cool moment in baseball.”

Andrew Simon@AndrewSimonMLB

The dugout reaction to Ohtani’s HR, and then his reaction to it, was pretty fun.

Will this two-way thing work? Ohtani is already the first non-pitcher to start on Opening Day and then start on the mound in the first 10 games of a season since 1919 — when Babe Ruth did it. We’ve seen Ohtani pitch. Now we’ve seen him hit (he later added two hard-hit singles). A common refrain on Twitter was along the likes of: “I’d like to see him hit more home runs than he gives up and strike out more batters than he strikes out as a batter.”

Given where we are with the specialization in baseball, that seems almost impossible. But now it sounds possible. Maybe Ohtani can pull this off.

Source: Real or Not? Dial Ohtani-mania up a notch after his first home run
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