Shohei Ohtani’s Unusual Home Run Experience

Shohei Ohtani found himself in a bit of confusion after hitting a ball down the right field line at Angel Stadium on Saturday night.

In the midst of the game’s intensity, Ohtani was singularly focused on one key element.

“I just kept running,” he mentioned in a postgame chat with an interpreter.

That turned out to be a smart decision.

During the eighth inning, when the Dodgers were leading the Angels 15-2, Ohtani scored a “Little League home run” as a result of a unique play—the kind that sometimes comes courtesy of MLB’s basic park rules. This triple was made possible by an error.

Ohtani hit a line drive at 89.7 mph that landed deep in the right field corner. It veered inside the foul line and bounced over the low wall, but, strangely, it never left the field entirely.

The ball actually struck a protective net—a recent addition at Angel Stadium—and bounced back onto the field just as Ohtani made his way around the bases.

By the time right fielder Joe Adell retrieved the ball—initially assuming it was a dead ball—Ohtani was already well on his way to third base.

Things took a turn for the worse for the Angels when Adell’s relay throw missed its targets, sending the ball rolling toward the mound. Ohtani scored without any further effort.

“It was a real Little League home run,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts commented post-game. “It was great to see the hustle from him.”

One of Ohtani’s fellow baserunners, Alex Cole, recounted his bewilderment, stating, “I turned around and saw Shohei was about to come home and asked, ‘What happened?'”

After Ohtani crossed home plate, the Angels voiced their concerns to the umpires regarding the protective netting’s effect on the play. Manager Kurt Suzuki expressed confusion, mentioning from the dugout that he thought perhaps the fans had interfered.

He added in the post-game talk that before the netting was installed, such a situation would have resulted in two bases being awarded if the ball had bounced into the stands.

However, a video review upheld the original call.

Amid the chaos, the focus shifted to a universal basic rule that applies across all MLB parks.

According to MLB’s rules, “A live ball (hit, thrown, etc.) that strikes a screen or protective netting on the field and bounces back onto the field is considered in play.”

“Since it hit the net, it was live, so it didn’t matter,” Roberts remarked. “We weren’t really clear on what they were trying to argue, but it didn’t affect us.”