While much of the United States was sleeping, Shohei Ohtani and Team Japan beat Chinese Taipei so bad in their first World Baseball Classic game, they invoked the mercy rule.
The defending champs broke things open in the second inning in historic fashion, including Ohtani sending a ball into orbit and social media into a frenzy.
After a scoreless first inning where Ohtani led off with a double, ultimately stranding him at third, White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami drew a walk, Shugo Maki singled and Sosuke Genda was hit by a pitch. After Kenya Wakatsuki popped out, the world's most feared and famous batter was at the plate with a chance to blow the roof off the Tokyo Dome.
Ohtani did just that. He blasted a 2-1 curveball from Hao-Chun Cheng into the right field seats for a grand slam.
Before bat met ball, you could hear a pin drop. Just listen to how the Japanese crowd erupts.
In total, Team Japan went on to score a historic ten runs in the second inning, including seven hits, four walks, and a HBP. This single-inning outburst outdid Team USA's first inning of the 2023 World Baseball Classic against Canada, where they scored nine. Mexico also put up a nine-spot on Cuba in the 2009 WBC.
More impressive than Ohtani's bomb, was the reaction on social media.
Retweets, likes and impressions blew up faster than Ohtani's ball left the yard. MLB analyst, Ben Verlander, among others, could not believe their eyes as the post garnered more than 50,000 retweets in just an hour. Again, this game started at 5am Eastern Time. The American baseball world was asleep, but the numbers showcased Ohtani's international star power.
As of 10:30am Eastern Time, just five hours after posting the highlight, the post has over 14-million impressions and continues to climb.Let's put these monstrous number in proper perspective by comparing it to the social media numbers Major League Baseball generated in some of last year's World Series most impactful and memorable moments.
Anyone that follows sports knows that baseball is not the most popular sport in the great American sports landscape nowadays, but I believe there's no denying that Shohei Ohtani moves the needle more than any athlete currently in American sports. Lionel Messi is obviously an international star, LeBron James is an all-time great, Caitlin Clark is well-liked, but Shohei Ohtani's star continues to rise at an epic pace, and sports fans across the world are watching, listening, liking, reposting and engaging like no other athlete right now.
Source: The Latest & Most Breaking News With OutKick
