Ohtani hits 473-foot home run that clears Dodger Stadium stands

JOE REEDY, Associated Press

4 hours ago

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, left, celebrates his solo home run with third base coach Dino Abel, right, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his 30th home run in Dodger blue and it was a memorable one.

The superstar hit a cutter off Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford 475 feet over the Dodger Stadium stands during the fifth inning of Sunday’s game.

Ohtani’s home run was one of six for the Dodgers in a 9-6 victory.

“Yes, and from a good angle,” Ohtani said through an interpreter when asked if he had heard everything.

According to fans in the area, the ball flew between the roof of the pavilion and an advertising board in the right midfield, but flew over the concourse and landed on the walkway in the stadium square.

“I looked, but I really couldn’t see where it was going,” Ohtani said. “Everyone was kind of in awe.”

Ohtani’s home run came on Austin Barnes’ solo shot. It was the seventh time this season that the Dodgers have hit back-to-back home runs. Four times, Ohtani’s home runs have been involved.

“No, I don’t think so,” Crawford said when asked if anyone had hit a longer home run off him. “I left a couple of pitches over the middle of the plate and they didn’t miss.”

Ohtani narrowly missed becoming the second Dodgers player and sixth overall to clear the pavilion roof and hit the ball completely out of Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962.

Los Angeles slugger Mike Piazza did it on September 21, 1997 against the Colorado Rockies.

The others were Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Willie Stargell (1969 and ’73), St. Louis’ Mark McGwire (1999), Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton (2015) and San Diego’s Fernando Tatís Jr. (2021).

Ohtani hopes to add Piazza to that list soon.

“I hope so. I think I’ll get a lot more opportunities to do that. So I’m definitely looking forward to it,” he said.

It tied for the third-longest home run in the majors this season, according to MLB Statcast. San Francisco’s Jorge Soler hit a 478-foot shot Sunday at Coors Field in Colorado. It replaced Ohtani’s 476-foot drive in Colorado on June 18.

Seven of Ohtani’s 30 homers this season have traveled at least 450 feet. The exit velocity of 116.7 mph marked Ohtani’s third-hardest hit this season.

“Gosh, he never ceases to amaze. When you look at how far that ball went and how hard it came off the bat, it’s just hard to fathom that someone could hit a baseball like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He just does things that people just can’t do.”

Ohtani became the first NL player to reach 30 homers this season. Aaron Judge leads the majors with 35.

It’s the fourth straight season in which Ohtani has hit at least 30 home runs. His career-high is 46 in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels, when he won the first of his two AL MVP awards.

“I started thinking about (the next inning) and then, boom! Shohei is unbelievable. I usually don’t miss an at-bat of his because it’s fun to watch,” Barnes said.

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