Current:Home > MarketsShohei Ohtani gifts manager Dave Roberts toy Porsche before breaking his home run record -TradeWise
Shohei Ohtani gifts manager Dave Roberts toy Porsche before breaking his home run record
View
Date:2025-04-14 04:44:45
Shohei Ohtani has many more records to break over the course of his baseball career, but he may not have any more fun breaking one than he did Saturday night.
Ever since finding out that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is the team's all-time leader in homers by a Japanese-born player, Ohtani and his skipper have enjoyed a running joke as he approached Roberts' grand total of seven. (Roberts was born on a U.S. military base in Okinawa.)
After Ohtani passed Hideki Matsui on April 21 for the most homers in MLB history by a Japanese-born player with his 176th, he deadpanned that he now had his sights set on Roberts' record.
In their back-and-forth with reporters since then, Ohtani and Roberts were both asked about the possibility of the slugger giving his manager a gift to commemorate the historic occasion. Roberts suggested a new car might be appropriate.
Before Saturday's game against the Atlanta Braves − with the pair tied at seven homers apiece − Roberts got the car.
All things Dodgers: Latest Los Angeles Dodgers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Later that evening, Ohtani got the record.
His solo shot in the bottom of the third inning off the Braves' Bryce Elder was his eighth of the season. And the torch was officially passed.
"He said he wanted a car," Ohtani said through translator Will Ireton. "I’m glad he’s happy. He got a car."
So what was the significance of the Porsche?
In this meticulously detailed timeline from MLB.com, we're reminded that when Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, reliever Joe Kelly had Ohtani's preferred jersey No. 17.
As a thank you gift for giving up his number, Kelly and his wife Ashley received a brand new Porsche courtesy of his new teammate.
So even though no one could blame Roberts for trying, he had to settle for a miniature version instead.
"I just want to say congratulations and thank you very much," Roberts said, the toy car in his hand after the game. "This is my car. The difference is Joe’s car doesn’t fit in my office. This car fits on my desk."
veryGood! (812)
Related
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- It's the warmest September on record thanks to El Niño and, yes, climate change
- Louise Glück, Nobel-winning poet of terse and candid lyricism, dies at 80
- Hornets’ Miles Bridges turns himself in after arrest warrant issued over protection order
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- The history of skirts (the long and the short of it)
- Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling announces retirement after 45 years reporting weather for WGN-TV
- Armenian president approves parliament’s decision to join the International Criminal Court
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Rudolph Isley, founding member of The Isley Brothers, dead at 84
Ranking
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Chris Evans Breaks Silence on Marriage to Alba Baptista
- The sun baby from the Teletubbies is having a baby
- Nelly and Ashanti Make Their Rekindled Romance Instagram Official
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- Children younger than 10 should be shielded from discussions about Israel-Hamas war, psychologist says
- Far from Israel, Jews grieve and pray for peace in first Shabbat services since Hamas attack
- Hospitals in Gaza are in a dire situation and running out of supplies, say workers
Recommendation
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
Sophie Turner Unfollows Priyanka Chopra Amid Joe Jonas Divorce
'Night again. Terror again': Woman describes her life under siege in Gaza
'Star Trek' actor Patrick Stewart says he's braver as a performer than he once was
Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
The toll of heat deaths in the Phoenix area soars after the hottest summer on record
California will give some Mexican residents near the border in-state community college tuition
Minnesota man who shot officers told wife it was ‘his day to die,’ according to complaint