TORONTO — Four hours before game time at Rogers Centre, it was already apparent that this wasn’t just another Tuesday.
On your average Blue Jays home game, the press box is about half-full with the familiar gaggle of local beat reporters with a sprinkling of travelling writers and broadcasters. Sometimes there are a few more, depending on the opponent. When Boston rolls through town things get a little bit more cramped — Red Sox team president Dave Dombrowski even takes a spot in the box for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
In the run-up to Tuesday’s game between the Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels, the place was absolutely packed with the impressive contingent of Japanese journalists Shohei Ohtani brings in his wake. Their presence signaled that this was more than just a game, it was an event. There’s something special about any time Ohtani takes the field right now.
Or, to put it as Kendrys Morales did following the Blue Jays’ 5-3 win, “I think he’s from another world. I don’t think you can compare anyone to him. I think what he does is something amazing.”
Before the game got going, the meeting in the office of Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was also well-attended to say the least, with more talk about Munenori Kawasaki than you’d have thought possible.
“It’s unbelievable that somebody can pitch and hit and he’s doing both of them very well, so I’m looking forward to seeing him,” Gibbons said when pressed about Ohtani at the meeting. “I know we had a lot of interest in him. Of course it didn’t work out, but he would’ve looked good here, I know that. I know they’re happy to have him.”
Batting practice also saw more fans than usual in the stands with all eyes — and cameras — on Ohtani as he took his cuts. The left-handed slugger managed a home run or two, and a few exclamations one can safely assure are rather colourful in Japanese whenever he didn’t square up the ball.
Unfortunately, when the game rolled around Blue Jays fans weren’t treated to the kind of memorable display from the Japanese superstar many were hoping for, especially judging from the solid round of applause that accompanied his first at-bat. The dual-threat designated hitter came to the dish four times going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
In his first trip to the plate, Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ demonstrated he didn’t want to tangle with the Japanese slugger, spraying six pitches away from the heart of the plate and putting him on first.
Next time up, Ohtani got overzealous on an inside two-seamer and shot a groundball the other way to Josh Donaldson.
Happ truly got the best of him in their third meeting. After throwing the kitchen sink at Ohtani using all four pitches in his arsenal, the veteran southpaw ultimately overpowered him on the seventh pitch of the at-bat with a 94.1 mph fastball right at the top of the zone.
After three duels with Ohtani, Happ was unwilling to commit to a scouting report.
“Just a couple of at-bats tonight. It’s hard to judge. As we go through the next two games here against this team we’ll get a better look,” he said. “Obviously from what I’ve seen from afar, and the numbers he’s put up so far, it’s impressive.”
Ohtani’s final trip to the dish ended the game as Tyler Clippard popped him up with a changeup low in the zone to earn himself a save. To be fair it was classic Clippard, who makes his living on the popup, but it was also an ugly swing where Ohtani scooped at the ball.
Ultimately it wasn’t really about what happened for the slugger, but what didn’t. There was no sizzle, there was no snapshot memory to be had, nothing that forced you to acknowledge you were witnessing something truly extraordinary.
By and large Blue Jays fans were unable to truly take in a piece of modern baseball history. The attendance of 21,480 indicated they weren’t dead-set on seeing it in the first place, but those that came didn’t get the chance to catch a glimpse of the unique talent that has Ohtani hitting .310/.362/.598 in his first taste of the big leagues — a slash line that goes from outstanding to unfathomable when you combine it with his 98 mph fastball and 3.35 ERA.
Having one unremarkable game is no fault of the rookie superstar — 0-for-3 nights happen to each and every hitter in baseball. Ohtani’s not beholden to the city of Toronto and the baseball fans therein to conjure some kind of magic in his first appearance north of the border.
It certainly would have been nice, though.
