Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Hits 473-foot Homer That Clears Bleachers at Dodger Stadium

AP Photo/Ryan Sun
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches his solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Los Angeles.

11:31 JST, July 22, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani made his 30th home run in Dodger blue a memorable one.

The superstar slugger drove a cutter from Boston pitcher Kutter Crawford 473 feet over the bleachers at Dodger Stadium during the fifth inning of Sunday’s game against the Red Sox.

According to fans in the area, the ball sailed between the pavilion roof and an advertisement sign in right-center field, but it cleared the concourse and landed on the walkway in the ballpark plaza.

Ohtani just missed becoming the second Dodgers player and sixth overall to clear the pavilion roof and hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962.

Los Angeles slugger Mike Piazza did it on Sept. 21, 1997, against the Colorado Rockies.

The others were Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Willie Stargell (1969 and ’73), St. Louis’ Mark McGwire (1999), Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton (2015) and San Diego’s Fernando Tatís Jr. (2021).

According to MLB Statcast, it was tied for the third-longest homer in the majors this season. Ohtani hit a 476-foot drive at Colorado on June 18.

Seven of Ohtani’s 30 homers this season have gone at least 450 feet. The 116.7 mph exit velocity marked Ohtani’s third hardest-hit ball this season.

Ohtani became the first NL player to reach 30 homers this season. Aaron Judge leads the majors with 35.

It is the fourth straight season in which Ohtani has homered at least 30 times. His career high is 46 in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels, when he won the first of his two AL MVP awards.