The best possible scenario for a Shohei Ohtani at-bat is also the rarest: one in which a walk instantly ends the game. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a tie contest between the Rays and Dodgers on Friday night, the goals for the men at the plate and on the mound could not have been clearer.
Poche's first pitch was an 84-mile-per-hour slider that seemed to hang an extra beat just ahead of the plate before dipping down toward the bottom of the strike zone. There was no second pitch. Ohtani connected with that smooth, violent swing of his and sent a fly ball to deep, deep center.
It was a walk-off grand slam that, combined with an easy stolen base he'd picked up earlier in the game, placed Ohtani in the 40/40 club. Until he finally gets a chance to show what he can do in the playoffs, this will stand as his most thrilling and dramatic highlight yet: pure, effortless heroism from a man who makes me feel fortunate to share the Earth with him.
Nobody hits a baseball like Ohtani hits a baseball-consistently emphatic, spectacularly effective, but also with this hint of vulnerability, like that brief moment of contact is the only time in his life when the pressure of being Shohei Ohtani disappears completely.
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