Shohei Ohtani came out in top form on Sunday. Not only was it a great win for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was also a stage for Ohtani to break an esteemed record. The game unfolded into a 10-0 victory over the New York Mets, breaking the slump that the Dodgers had recently found themselves in. However, in the thick of the celebrations, Ohtani made a surprising statement. 

Ohtani, the man known for his modesty, addressed his new achievement. However, as he spoke, he shared another new record he would be aiming to break. 

Shohei Ohtani is geared up!

In a post-game interview, when Ohtani was asked whether he also hopes to replicate Matsui’s famed playoff poise this year in the MLB postseason, he joked moved his attention to his manager Dave Roberts instead, and joked, “I want to break my manager’s record.” For those curious about the latter’s record: Dave Roberts managed to achieve the most homers by a player of Japanese origin in a Dodgers uniform.

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Ohtani further shared via the interpreter, “Honestly, I was just relieved I was able to get it over with.” He further added it that was “not something I was cognizant of when I first started my career here, but as I got to know about it,” he started focusing more on the numbers. 

The 29-year-old hit his fifth home run of the season and the 176th of his 6+ major league seasons with the Angels and Dodgers, a 423-foot line drive off Adrian Houser (0-2) deep into the right-field stands. That was more than the record held by Matsui, the former slugger for the New York Yankees, who spent ten seasons in North America. 

After his momentous achievement, Ohtani’s team also didn’t waste any time to come forward and appreciate the player for his performance.

Ohtani’s team comments on his gargantuan performance

Manager Dave Roberts also shared his thoughts on Matsui. He said, “Hideki Matsui was a great ballplayer, a great home run hitter, a world champion”. And switching his attention to Ohtani, he continued, “I know that Shohei admired him, so for him to eclipse that mark, it’s a big deal. I know whatever kind of mark is ahead of Shohei, he’s trying to take them all down.”

Sunday’s homer was the fifth one in his first 24 games for Ohtani. In his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, the Unicon hit 171 homers. His impressive performance was also applauded by Tyler Glasnow, his teammate. “It’s awesome, I’m sure he’ll have a lot more records while we’re playing here,” Glasnow said. This is a testament to the fact that Ohtani is on his way to break some big records. With that said, do you think he’ll be able to do it?