Another day, another Shohei Ohtani highlight.
Don’t tell Michele Tafoya but there’s a good reason to talk about the Los Angeles Angels superstar again on Sunday. A day after becoming the third Japanese-born player to hit 100 home runs in Major League Baseball, Ohtani has cracked his 101st.
Ohtani was batting in the top of the first against the Oakland Athletics when he drilled a 2-1 fastball deep into centerfield for the dinger.
In terms of Japanese-born MLB players, Ohtani trails only Hideki Matsui with 175 home runs and Ichiro Suzuki with 117. Ohtani also recently joined Babe Ruth as the only two players with at least 100 home runs and at least 250 strikeouts as a pitcher.
“He does it every day,” Angels coach Joe Maddon said of Ohtani on Saturday. “It’s not surprising anymore. I don’t want to say expecting it, but we’re expecting it. That’s just who he is right now. He’s going to keep adding on to that. You’re going to hear more names, more milestones. He’s a baseball player. He loves to play.”
Who knows what he’ll do next, but in the meantime, baseball fans continue to marvel at Ohtani, who has the Angels competing for the American League crown early this season. A lot of people directed their reactions to Michele Tafoya, who commented on Saturday that she was tired of hearing about this once-in-a-lifetime player. Even the Angels had some fun with it.
Michele Tafoya still thinks they should talk about something else. https://t.co/nlqydln0MG
— Dan Cohen (@DanRCohen14) May 15, 2022
The defending AL MVP is also looking every bit the contender to repeat for that crown.