Shohei Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball to reach 300 career home runs on Tuesday night, leading off with a milestone blast in the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the Colorado Rockies.
Ohtani's historic home run
Ohtani connected on a 2-0 pitch from Michael Lorenzen, sending a 409-foot line drive to center field for his 20th homer of the season. The shot, which left his bat at 119 mph, was his 31st career leadoff homer and seventh this year.
"It was quite the homer," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Associated Press (AP) and other reporters. "It was 119 (mph exit velocity) off the bat, low-launching, it was squared up, got out in a hurry. I just marvel at him every day. Three hundred is a big number."
Milestone in context
According to AP, Ohtani reached the milestone in his 1,102nd major league game, making him the fifth-fastest player to do so and the 170th member of the 300-homer club. New York Yankees star Aaron Judge holds the record, having reached the mark in 955 games.
Ohtani, who turned 32 on Sunday, had also homered in the Dodgers' 8-7, 11-inning victory on Monday, going 3 for 4.
Future prospects
"He just had a birthday, still young, still strong, so I definitely think 500 is in his future," Roberts said.
As Ohtani returned to the dugout after his historic homer, teammate Freddie Freeman greeted him with a bow, a moment that drew cheers from the crowd, AP reported.
