Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish have a special connection.
All Shohei Ohtani has ever wanted out of his MLB career is a chance. A shot at competing for a title.
He made a bet that heading down the road and playing for the Dodgers would get him closer to that than he’s ever been. It turns out that bet was right — this is the closest he’s ever been.
Ohtani and the Dodgers are just one win away from the NLCS heading into a decisive Game 5 against the Padres. Now, the only thing that stands in the way of Ohtani inching a little closer to his dream is his childhood hero.
When the Dodgers’ star steps into the batter’s box on Friday, he’ll be going up against Yu Darvish.
Ohtani grew up watching the former Nippon Ham Fighters’ ace as a kid before embarking on his journey in professional baseball. On Sunday, when Darvish last pitched against LA, Ohtani described the pitcher as his “childhood hero” and said he’d hoped to see him and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch against one another.
Shohei Ohtani called Yu Darvish his “childhood hero.” He said he wanted to see him go against Yamamoto in Game 2, but is still excited and honored to step in the box and face him in Game 2 on Sunday. #Dodgers#NLDS
Ohtani’s reverence for Darvish hasn’t made a difference to the ace. He’s shown no mercy when lining up across from Ohtani. So far, the Dodgers star has batted 1-8 against his idol in his career, according to MLB.com, including a 0-3 showing against him on Sunday.
If Ohtani can turn things around, his dream of winning a championship remains alive. If not? He’ll have plenty more opportunities to watch his idol from the couch again over these next few weeks.
On Wednesday, he lost it over the third base umpire getting in the way of a fair ball from Teoscar Hernandez. That led to Ohtani getting thrown out while trying to score at the plate. Sure, the Los Angeles Dodgers ended up beating their rival San Diego Padres 8-0 to force a Game 5 in the NLDS, but no matter — Ohtani was IRATE, as you’ll see:
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is a once-in-a-lifetime talent and he is impossible to miss whenever he is playing baseball.
Part of that is because of his larger-than-life presence at the plate but another reason is because FOX’s broadcast of the MLB postseason is currently doing everything in its power to make sure you know he is there.
Of course, whenever he comes up to the plate, it has the potential to become an unforgettable moment. But during the NLDS between the Dodgers and the Padres, the broadcast wanted to make sure when fans knew how long until he stepped up to the plate again.
Baseball finally has a marketable star on its hands and their broadcasting partners are going to remind you of that at every opportunity, but fans are already turning it into a meme during his first playoff appearance:
You can’t blame Shohei Ohtani for being excited to play in the postseason.
After all, he didn’t do that with the Los Angeles Angels, and on Saturday, he delivered a win with a monster home run that he celebrated appropriately. The usually stoic Ohtani hit a three-run dinger and shouted out as he flipped his bat. His Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 7-5 in Game 1 of their best-of-five NLDS matchup.
Heck yeah! We can’t wait to see more of this from Ohtani as the Dodgers continue to play in the playoffs.
Here’s that moment, along with an even better view from Umpire Cam:
Shohei Ohtani is ready to go for his first MLB postseason game.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani will play in his first MLB playoff game on Saturday against the San Diego Padres.
When asked by a reporter if he’s nervous about this historic moment in his career, Ohtani gave a perfect answer that should have L.A. fans excited.
“Nope,” he responded.
Hey, that’s pretty awesome if you ask us.
The best player in baseball finally getting his chance to contend for a World Series is cool enough, but the way Ohtani just brushed off any nerves before his first MLB playoff game is almost as impressive.
We’ll see how the Dodgers fare this October, but they can count on their best player being ready for the experience.
“Are you nervous at all for playing in the postseason for the first time?”
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National League Division Series schedule
Saturday, Oct. 5 – Game 1:
Brewers/Mets at Philadelphia Phillies – 4:08 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers – 8:38 p.m. ET
Sunday, Oct. 6 – Game 2:
Brewers/Mets at Philadelphia Phillies – 4:08 p.m. ET
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers – 8:03 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Oct. 8 – Game 3:
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres – TBD
Philadelphia Phillies at Brewers/Mets – TBD
Wednesday, Oct. 9 – Game 4 (if necessary)
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres- TBD (if necessary)
Philadelphia Phillies at Brewers/Mets- TBD (if necessary)
Friday, Oct. 11 – Game 5 (if necessary)
San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers – TBD (if necessary)
Brewers/Mets at Philadelphia Phillies – TBD (if necessary)
The NLCS is scheduled to being on Sunday, Oct. 13 and conditional tickets are available now for both teams. If your team advances to the NLCS, you’re in! If not, you will receive a refund.
He claimed that the ball was taken away from him by force.
We could be looking at Popov vs. Hayashi 2.0 in Miami.
When Shohei Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, he created the most chaotic dash for that historic ball in the left-field club seating at LoanDepot Park. As fans dove over tables and chairs, one fan did ultimately come away with the baseball — and potentially a massive pay day.
But on the eve of an auction expected to draw a seven-figure sales price, one fan is suing to stop the proceedings.
According to Yahoo! Sports, 18-year-old Max Matus claimed that he had the baseball before Chris Belanski forcibly took the ball out of his hands.
Matus was in the red Marlins jersey as there was a scramble for the ball. Though we can’t see who was actually in possession of the ball, Belanski did trap Matus’ hand between his legs and eventually came away with the ball.
And while the auction house plans to proceed with the sale (unless a court quickly intervenes), there is legal precedent that could lead to Belanski and Matus splitting the sale.
When Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run in 2001, the fan who initially caught the ball — Alex Popov — was mobbed until the baseball came loose. Patrick Hayashi was quickly able to scoop up the loose ball and hide it. A legal battle ensued and we eventually had this decision, via sportico.com:
After weighing the dueling arguments, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Kevin McCarthy reasoned that “neither can present a superior argument as against the other.” McCarthy determined that both men acted lawfully, intended to possess the ball and had physical contact with the ball. Although Hayashi left the ballpark with the ball and although Popov couldn’t “demonstrate full control” of that ball, Popov nonetheless obtained a “pre-possessory interest.”
Ultimately the judge held the two men’s “legal claims are of equal quality, and they are equally entitled to the ball.” McCarthy then ordered Popov and Hayashi to sell their ball (since neither could own it on his own) and split the proceeds. Comic book creator Todd McFarlane bought the ball for $450,000 in an auction held in 2003.
Without that Popov vs. Hayashi decision, we probably would have been left with a court deciding the process of a catch as if it was the NFL replay center. We’ll have to see if Miami-Dade County views the dispute the same way as Judge Kevin McCarthy did 23 years ago. But at the very least, there’s similar precedent.
Shohei Ohtani made baseball history last week when he became the first player to ever hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. And for one fan in Miami, it meant potentially a massive pay day to part with the historic baseball.
Well, that fan has made his decision, and the Dodgers likely won’t be happy about it.
According to ESPN, the fan has opted to cosign the 50-50 ball to collectibles marketplace Goldin with an auction slated to begin on Friday. The starting bid is already set at $500,000 with the option to purchase the ball outright at $4.5 million.
The fan reached out to Goldin the day after catching the ball to start the consignment process, via ESPN:
“This was one of the easiest [consignments] ever,” Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, told ESPN. “Ohtani [hits 50] on Thursday, literally Friday we heard from the guy, he contacted Goldin on his own through social media, flew a security guard down to Miami on Monday with a representative from Goldin, met him, flew back Monday.”
The Dodgers did reportedly offer the fan $300,000 for the baseball, which he turned down. At auction, the baseball could potentially go for millions and could eclipse that $1.5 million that Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run ball sold for.
The Dodgers thumped the Marlins 20-4. Ohtani, himself, actually drove in 10 of those runs.
The numbers were unreal. He finished the game 6-for-6 at the plate. He hit three homers, two doubles, a single and had 10 total RBIs. He scored 4 runs himself and also stole two bases.
There are plenty of impressive singular performances in MLB history, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one as good and efficient as the one Ohtani just had. He’s unreal.
This dude is not supposed to be doing things like this. Baseball has existed for a long time. This is a 19th-century sport we’re talking about, folks. And nobody in the game’s history has ever hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in one season. He’s created the club and still has a bit of wiggle room to go. There aren’t enough games left for him to go 60-60, but the dude is so good you don’t even want to count him out.
At every turn throughout his career, Ohtani has broken baseball’s conventions over and over again. It’s easy to forget that his other job is being a pitcher. He’s in the middle of a rehab season after injuring his elbow, for crying out loud. And this is what he does? It’s unreal.
Baseball’s GOAT discussion is one of the toughest in all of sports. There are many candidates and legitimate reasons why they should all be considered. Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Mike Trout … The list goes on.
I think it’s high time we add another name to that list. It’s still early — he’s only 30 years old — but Ohtani belongs in those conversations. He’s not even through his prime yet and he’s doing things we’ve never seen before and may never see again.
I don’t know where he ends up, but for my money, this is the single greatest talent baseball has ever seen. I’m glad we get to watch him.
Philly Forever
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Joel Embiid is locked in with the Philadelphia 76ers through the rest of his prime after reportedly agreeing to a three-year, $193 million extension this morning, according to the latest from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
This extension, stacked on top of Embiid’s current deal gives him a 5-year, $301 million contract with the 76ers in total. That makes it one of the three richest deals in NBA history, per Charania.
It’ll take him to his age 35 season. I guess it’d be reasonable for one to consider this expensive deal mildly concerning for a center with an injury history like Embiid’s. He played only 39 games for Philly last year before returning for the playoffs.
But, hey, man. He’s an MVP. And he probably would’ve been a back-to-back MVP if he’d stayed healthy last season. When you’ve got a talent like that, you do all you can to keep them around.
Good on the 76ers for landing the plane here and shoutout to Embiid, who has to be jumping in swimming pools of money right now.
The WNBA Playoffs are upon us
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The WNBA season ended on Thursday night, and the first round of the playoffs will begin this weekend.
The matchups:
No. 1 New York Liberty vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream
No. 2 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury
No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever
No. 4 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm
The favorites: The New York Liberty has to be considered the favorite for the title this season. Their +9.2 point differential is the best in the WNBA by a wide margin — the next closest team is the Sun at +6.5. This team is on a mission to avenge last year’s finals loss, and this is a great opportunity to do so.
A potential upset: None feel extremely likely at this point, but if I had to pick a team I’d say it’d be the Fever against the Sun. Connecticut is 3-1 against Indiana this season, but three of those games came before the All-Star break, and two were in the first week of the season. This is a different Fever team now, with a 109.6 offensive rating in the last 14 games. I wouldn’t call an upset likely, but if you’re looking for one, this is probably where you’d go.
Photo Friday: Damien Martinez is a literal blur
(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
This photo is a bit older — it’s from the Miami game against Florida A&M. But I stumbled upon this in my weekly photo search and couldn’t stop staring at it.
Damien Martinez looks like he’s breaking the sound barrier here. It’s incredible.
Quick hits: What happened to the 50-50 homer? … Amon-Ra hates the Cowboys … and more
Ohtani and the Dodgers can buy it back from the fan if they want it.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani made history once again and the home run ball that accomplished the feat is now extremely valuable.
Ohtani, who became the first player in MLB history to ever record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season, crushed three hits out of the park in the same game to notch the milestone. The second home run, his 50th, was most coveted by fans in the stands.
While one individual missed grabbing the ball by merely inches, the very sad misfortune for him created the luckiest day imaginable for another person at the game.
According to MLB reporter Craig Mish, the fan who caught the ball decided to “walk away” with this unique memento. He also “agreed to a discussion” so he is at least apparently open to whatever is offered, though he was later ushered out by security.
Surely both the Dodgers and the MLB will want to obtain the ball from this fan. So, too, may Ohtani himself. But after the drama that surrounded getting Ohtani’s first home run ball with the Dodgers earlier this season, the fan who caught this one looks smart right now.
This ball was covertly pre-authenticated via hologram so the league has no leverage over the fan. It is undeniably the one that Ohtani hit, which means it can get sold without anyone worrying that it is a dupe.
It is potentially worth between $250,000 and $500,000 but could even fetch as much as seven figures depending on what the market looks like.
Perhaps the fan puts the ball up for auction, maybe Ohtani or the Dodgers buy it directly, or potentially the fan gets to keep it as the ultimate souvenir.
Either way, if they play it right, their life has changed because they caught this ball.
