Last Updated on 08/06/2022 by てんしょく飯
Shohei Ohtani (28) of the Angels started at “No. 2, DH” on April 4 (Japan time 5) against the Athletics at their home field, and hit his fifth multi-homer game of the season with Nos. 23 and 24 solo shots. The team hit a total of seven homers, including two by Ohtani, but all were solo arches in a 7-8 loss. 7 homers in a loss is an unfortunate major league tie. The New York Post criticized the team’s strategy of strengthening the Angels by not trading Ohtani away.
The New York Post criticized the team’s strategy of not releasing Otani in a trade.
How weak can they be? Not only did Ohtani hit two homers, but he also hit seven homers, tying the record for most solo arches in a single game in the majors, and still didn’t win the game.
Playing “second and DH” the day after the starter left in the seventh inning due to right forearm cramps, Ohtani caught Paul Blackburn’s 94 mph straight ball in the first inning and hit a solo shot No. 23 in the opposite field, and in the seventh inning, with two outs, left fielder Kirby Snead threw to the in-low, probably looking away, and he hit a In the 7th inning, with two outs, left fielder Kirby Snead threw a slider to the right field bleachers with his body open for a solo shot No. 24. The score was 6-8 at that point, and in the ninth inning, Mickey Moniak, who had been blitzed, hit his team-leading seventh home run, but it was one run too many, and the team lost 7-8.
The U.S. media also focused on Ohtani’s two homers and this unusual loss.
The local newspaper, the Orange County Register, sarcastically lamented the seven-homer loss, saying, “The Angels have found a new and creative way to lose.
The article noted that the Angels tied the team record for most home runs in a single game, but also tied the major league record for most home runs in a losing effort, the major league record for seven solo home runs, and became the first team in history not to score any runs other than seven solo home runs. Acting manager Phil Nevin commented, “They always say you can’t win on solo homers; you hit seven and you might win, but we, in the end, it just didn’t work out.”
The Los Angeles Times, another local newspaper, headlined, “Ohtani and Angels make dubious history in seven-homer loss,” and reported.
Every homer Ohtani gives up has the grace in baseball. When the ball is caught perfectly, there is a familiar sound, and the fans are on the edge of their seats, gasping for air. The ball goes over the fence amid cheers. Star Otani produced this scene twice, with Nos. 23 and 24, and Kurt Suzuki, Taylor Ward, Joe Adell, Jared Walsh, and Moniak also hit home runs. But even the seven homers, a team record for a single game, were not enough to beat the Athletics.”
The paper went into more detail about Ohtani’s two homers, noting that he did not laugh on the bench.
Ohtani (on the first homer) tapped his fist lightly as he sped around the bases and reached home, but his expression didn’t change except for a high-five in the dugout. At this point, there was also no cowboy hat given to the batter who hit the homer as a blessing. Otani smiled at Suzuki’s homer in the next inning. The cowboy hat was placed over the head of the veteran catcher (Suzuki). Ohtani hit his second homer in the seventh inning. With the cowboy hat ready, the celebration for him grew louder.”
Not only the local papers, but even the New York papers covered this unusual loss.
The New York Times ran the headline, “Home run streak not enough,” and added, “The team that boasts Mike Trout and Ohtani keeps losing. The team that boasts Mike Trout and Ohtani continues to lose, now 44-61, but Thursday night’s game must have been especially frustrating for (Ohtani),” the paper reported.
According to the paper, there have been 85 teams that have hit seven homers in a game, and they are 79-6, with their first loss coming in 1995.
For conservatives who don’t like the way baseball has changed, this game may have been the ultimate example. Many home runs were hit, but few runs were scored. In this game, the Angels had only two hits other than the homer. And they went 2-for-4 with nine strikeouts. The team batting average in this game was .257, the lowest in a game with seven or more home runs. The team’s normal batting average in these games is .400.
The Angels’ team home run total is just above league average, but their team runs scored is fifth from the bottom. While Trout (currently on the injured list), Ohtani, and Ward are hitting, the rest of the players’ numbers have been lackluster,” he noted. Eight of the 13 players with at least 100 at-bats are batting .250 or lower, and “I don’t blame Walsh, but you can’t win with a first baseman batting .231 and going 20-for-4. The Angels are below average in Baseball Reference’s WAR (contribution index) at every fielding position except center fielder (usually Trout) and designated hitter (usually Otani), except pitcher,” he added.
He added, “It’s also hard to guarantee that Ohtani’s big game will be a win for the Angels. Thursday’s game marked the 11th time he has hit multiple home runs in the majors. But they are 6-5 in those 11 games. Ohtani and Trout will captivate the eyes of Angels fans as well as neutral fans, but even though the crowd is used to seeing two great players homer, they are not supposed to see the Angels win,” he even asserted.
The Angels have not advanced to the postseason since 2014, and postseason wins have to go back to 2009.
The New York Post criticized Ohtani’s trade sealed with the headline, “Senior executives from rival teams questioned Ohtani trade strategy…’Never come back'”.
The New York Post headlined, “Ohtani trade never had a chance at all. Angels owner Art Moreno didn’t even want to listen to offers, so talks almost never materialized.”
Ohtani was approached by 12 teams about a trade, but Moreno told the team’s front office that he could not trade Ohtani while Trout and Anthony Rendon were out with injuries. The paper noted that “the Angels need a reset as a team.
Trout has a no-trade clause for all teams, and with no team wanting to trade for the malfunctioning Rendon, the only way to rebuild the team is to trade Ohtani, and one senior executive from a rival team told the paper, “Ohtani will leave the Angels within 14 months (before he becomes eligible for free agency). Otani will leave the Angels within 14 months. Once he leaves, he will never come back to the team.
He added, “Ohtani has avoided saying so, but people think he wants to win. When you combine Moreno’s reluctance to pay the luxury tax with Trout’s contract, the bloated Rendon deal, and the historic raise from $5 million to perhaps $35 million that Ohtani is about to get, the team will soon It has made it very difficult to win,” he said, noting that the Angels will have no choice but to trade away Ohtani after this offseason. Ohtani is scheduled to start against the Athletics on August 9 in hostile territory.
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