RSS Feed

Tech Support

Ohtani Shohei (29, Los Angeles Angels) played a big role as both a pitcher and a batter on his starting day. The humiliation of "Korean Express" Park Chan-ho (50) 15 years ago was also summoned because of Ohtani, who brought up past records.

Otani started as the team's starting pitcher and second batter in the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) home game against the Chicago White Sox at Anaheim Angel Stadium in California on the 28th (Korea Standard Time). At-bat, he recorded three hits (two home runs), two RBIs, two runs, and one walk in four at-bats, and on the mound, he recorded four hits, two walks, 10 strikeouts and one run in six⅓ innings.

On this day, Ohtani struck out before being substituted after breaking his nail in the seventh inning. He started off well with two strikeouts in both the first and second innings, and continued his scoreless streak. After one out in the top of the sixth inning, he was on the verge of scoring first and second base with Elvis Andrews' walk and Andrew Benintendi's hit, but he ended the inning with consecutive strikeouts.

His performance at bat was even more brilliant. Appearing after one out in the bottom of the first inning, he hit a 95-mile fastball in the middle of White Sox starter Michael Kopec and recorded his 27th solo home run of the season over the right-center fence. He then walked in the third inning and hit in the fifth inning, and this time, he exploded a left-center home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, increasing the number of home runs to 28.

It was the fourth time Otani hit a home run in his appearance game this season, the first multi-home run since his major league debut in 2018. Also, according to Sarah Reims of MLB.com , Otani was the fifth American League player to strike out 10 and hit multiple home runs in a game since 1900, the first since the designated hitter system was introduced in 1973.

Although not up to this, Otani set another small record. "Ottani became the first player to hit a home run after hitting more than 10 strikeouts on the mound since 2008," said MLB Bolt's SNS, which deals with major league-related news. The main character was CC Sabathia (43), the winner of the 2007 American League Cy Young Award.

He started the away game against the LA Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on June 22, 2008, and pitched seven innings, five hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts, and one run. Although he did not become a winning pitcher, the team won 7-2 after 11 extra innings. Sabathia came out as the ninth batter because he played in a National League home game where there was no designated hitter at the time, but he came out as the leadoff hitter in the top of the third inning and hit a solo home run over the right fence.

However, Park Chan-ho was the pitcher who allowed this home run. Returning to the Dodgers after seven years of this season, he mainly pitched as a relief pitcher at the beginning of the season and made his second starting appearance on the same day. Park Chan-ho struck out nine in five innings and gave up only one run, which was Sabathia's home run. Getting a home run by the same pitcher is bound to be a humiliating memory.

Until Park Chan-ho went down, the Dodgers' batters were blocked by Sabathia and failed to score a single point, and he was on the verge of losing. At least he balanced it with Matt Kemp's tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Dodgers eventually lost. However, Park Chan-ho started as a starting pitcher three more times, and on June 28 of that year, he won the game with seven strikeouts and no runs in six innings against the Angels.