Los Angeles Angels fans impressed as Shohei Ohtani swipes ball from umpire’s pocket: "The smoothest pickpocket of all time" "A man with no fear"
Los Angeles Angels phenomenon Shohei Ohtani had an eventful Wednesday as he took on the Seattle Mariners.
Not only did he become the first player in MLB history to be charged with pitch clock violations as a batter and pitcher in the same game, he also got caught red-handed by stadium security videos swiping a ball out of home plate umpire Pat Hoberg's pocket.
Shohei the Pickpocket. https://t.co/LBR1IIvPLb
Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, stood outside of the Angels dugout as manager Phil Nevin was discussing matters with Hoberg. Mizuhara and Ohtani noticed someone beckoning for a ball, and before Hoberg knew what had happened, Ohtani had already reached into his stash and tossed one over.
The video clip hit Twitter and promptly went viral as fans fawned over yet another of Ohtani's secret talents.
@PitchingNinja The smoothest pickpocket of all time. Never seen a player take a ball from the Ump so smoothly. The umpire is just blessed to be in Ohtani’s presence.
- @BenVerlander, probably
@PitchingNinja That was almost as fast - and deceptive - as his splitter.
@PitchingNinja Anyone but Shohei may have gotten tossed. But even the Umps love the guy
Wednesday's dual pitch-clock violations only help to propel the ever-blossoming legend of Ohtani. As for the game itself, Ohtani wasn't at his best, but still earned the win with six innings of three-hit, one-run ball with eight strikeouts in the 4-3 Angels win. He went 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI.
@PitchingNinja That's a man with no fear.
@PitchingNinja He made contact with the ump! Get him outta here!
@PitchingNinja I love him more and more each day .
Ohtani lifted his batting average to .286 Wednesday. He has two home runs and six RBI one week into the season.
He earned his first win on the mound Wednesday, although his ERA did rise from 0.00 to 0.75. He'll have to watch that earned-run bloat to once again contend for the American League MVP and Cy Young awards.
@PitchingNinja Is there anybody having more fun while at the same time being an absolute beast of a baseball player? We are so lucky to have Shohei playing baseball right now.
@PitchingNinja All he does is bring joy to this game. Ok ok so 103 with bite and +++power. Those just seem minor compared to his charm.
@PitchingNinja I’m a straight married man with a child and he’s SO CUTE I cannot take it
A number of fans noted that Ohtani likely would have gotten kicked out by a number of umpires deemed more power-hungry than Hoberg. Ohtani might not have gotten as lucky against the widely-villified Angel Hernandez, or Randy Rosenberg, who kicked Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto out of a Spring Training game for pulling his glove away before Rosenberg had dropped a ball in it.
@PitchingNinja Glad it wasn't the ump that tossed Realmuto. Dude would have probably filed criminal charges against him.
Shohei Ohtani, Angels open home schedule Friday
Shohei Ohtani and his Angels teammates return to Anaheim for the ballclub's home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. The team will host Toronto for a three-game weekend series before the moribund Washington Nationals come calling for three games next Monday through Wednesday.
Los Angeles brings a 4-2 record into the game, having taken two-of-three games from the Mariners and Oakland Athletics in their season-opening six-game road trip.
The Angels head back out on the road for an East Coast road trip at the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees April 14-20.