Shohei Ohtani looked like a kid in a candy store when WPW visited Tempe Diablo Stadium for Dodgers vs Angels, and wouldn’t you be having fun, too? Ohtani is a kid from the other side of the world and now he’s living out his dream, playing beside Mike Trout, the greatest ballplayer on Earth, versus Clayton Kershaw, the greatest pitcher on Earth.
Though he didn’t get much done at the plate versus Kershaw, a smooth BP swing from Ohtani sent a ball pounding off the oppo side of the giant wall in center. It was about 3/4 of the way up the wall, which is already 420 feet away. Its doubtful that many lefties have ever hit a ball up there at Tempe Diablo.
Ohtani and Trout have a language gap, but that didn’t stop Trout from getting a laugh from “Sho.” “LETS GO SHO!” was the rallying cry from Trout, who jokes with everybody on the field, all the way down to the security guards.
Shohei Ohtani wore at least 5 different protective guards at the plate, some showing, some under layers.
All the guards on display had Asics logos on them. The most unique one was the one that protected his throwing hand.
Almost his entire arm was covered by guards, and I don’t blame the guy. Long-term injuries caused by hit-by-pitches aren’t just a threat, they’re a certainty in the MLB. Countless Big Leaguers have lost serious time to an errant two-seamer, and some never recover. Its our opinion that every MLB pitcher should wear something like this at the plate. To go up there with an unprotected throwing hand is basically asking for the opposing pitcher to throw one up there. Unwritten rules, unschmitten rules… protect yourself and you don’t have to worry about that silliness.
Clayton Kershaw, who put in an unsuccessful effort to woo Ohtani in the off-season, painted the outside corner with the HAMMER OF GOD on a 2-2 count to retire Ohtani on strikes.
Ohtani seemed to enjoy even the backwards K, drinking it all in.
Maybe its because we’re just a little bored of the other companies, but Ohtani’s batting gloves popped on the field.
These were the gamers. Very sharp. We actually found them on Rakuten for sale.
Trout was out there, too. There are several styles available of the Nike Trout batting gloves. None are exact matches, but they’re still sick.
Shohei Ohtani’s cleats were also really interesting. They looked good, and they had this perforated material that seemed comfortable and breathable. If you find these, let us know.
Even the wood is Asics-branded, and “GOLDSTAGE” seems to be a premium label in Japan. We found some wood bats by Asics on Rakuten. You may even see “Ohtani” maple bat models. Shop here.
As is our duty, any time we cover an Angels game, we must show the Trouts on display. These are Mike’s, sporting a marbled look.
Kole Calhoun was wearing the marbled look, too, but on a different part of the cleats. We prefer these to Trout’s. Eastbay is offering a bunch of colorways of the Trout 4, though these look like exclusives. Justin Upton’s adidas Boost Icon 3s ain’t half bad either.
Ohtani’s Cleats (in Japan they just call them “Spikes”) are Asic’s experimental product and would appear on the market in near furture.
tubuyaki3.com/大谷翔平のスパイク
And it;s said he use Hard Maple, White Ash and Aodamo (Japanese Blue Ash, which the Japanese players prefered) at the same time. Well you can see he gave one “Tamo”(abbreviation form of Aodamo) bat to the kid and sometimes bring a maple bat to the stand.
number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/830410
The introduction of Ohtani’s Cleats.
Has the Asics Bats been inspected to see if they meet american stds.for Bats?
Hi all products available batting gloves available