Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani reveals prize for dog after ceremonial pitch
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, broke the internet Wednesday night after he participated in the ceremonial first pitch which made fans obsessed over the canine. For being such a good dog, Ohtani expressed after the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles that Decoy would get something special.
Amassing over 22 million views on the Dodgers’ X, formerly Twitter, account, the video posted showed Ohtani bringing out his special friend to the mound with a baseball. Consequently, he would run to home base and on his signal, Decoy got the baseball and ran from the mound to Ohtani for the first pitch which resulted in a massive cheer as the star slugger said that he will be giving his dog a “special snack” according to ESPN.
“It’s a really special night,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I hope to buy some special snack for him.”
Shohei and Decoy. pic.twitter.com/WkuhNjIamn
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 29, 2024
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani on the reaction from fans for his dog, Decoy
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
It was all a part of a bobblehead night where the figurine had Ohtani holding Decoy who had been popular with the Dodgers fans. In preparation, Ohtani reportedly spent the last three weeks training his dog to do the first pitch which per Aiden Gonzalez, the 30-year old called it a “fun exercise,” but was shocked by the massive turnout to the ball park to watch his bull pen session.
“I was surprised when I came to the park with my family,” Ohtani said. “I wasn’t really aware of this situation; I thought there was some other special event going on.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was both shocked and not surprised by Ohtani’s dog Decoy performing the trick saying that because the super talented player is his owner, the impressive skills rubs off on the canine.
“I heard that Decoy was going to throw the first pitch, and I’m impressed that the dog was already that trained,” Roberts said. “I guess if it’s Shohei’s dog, nothing should be that surprising. That was pretty impressive.”
Looking at the game as a whole, Ohtani was inspired by his dog’s performance and hit a home run to go along with stealing two bases to add on to an already impressive MVP-type season.
“I’m telling you, any big moment, he seems to rise up to the occasion,” Roberts said.
A crucial development for Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler
Subsequently, another integral aspect of the game was the performance from pitcher Walker Buehler who has been looking to find some consistency with the team since 2021 where he finished fourth in Cy Young voting. In the game, he threw 90 pitches while striking out four batters, walking one, allowed five hits, four runs with two of them earned which for Roberts was an outing Buehler can build off of per the team.
“This is the first night I’ve seen the delivery, the tempo synced up,” Roberts said. “I’m looking forward to him building on this if he keeps in that delivery. The way he was spinning the baseball, the curveball was as good as I’ve seen it in a couple of years, the fastball, the cutter — he was ripping it tonight.”
Correspondingly, the Dodgers are 79-54 which put them No. 1 of the NL West.
The post Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani reveals prize for dog after ceremonial pitch appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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