The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated Shohei Ohtani's 50 home run and 50 stolen base season with another bobblehead night for the superstar.
It marked the second Ohtani bobblehead night of the year, and the Japanese star hit a pair of home runs. That marked the third bobblehead night in which Ohtani has hit a home run, giving fans even more than the souvenir item they flocked to the stadium for.
The bobblehead special!
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 16, 2025
Shohei Ohtani has homered in each of his last three bobblehead nights with the Dodgers ⚾️
🎥 @MLB pic.twitter.com/fBOdbWJLum
Well, it was all Dodgers all night as they took a 16-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth against the Athletics. Hyeseong Kim then hit an RBI double to make it 18-2, and Ohtani came to the plate again.
This time, it was Athletics catcher Jhonny Pereda on the mound as they threw in the towel and decided to preserve some pitchers.
Well, believe it or not, Pereda struck out Ohtani swinging on a high 89 MPH fastball.
Position player Jhonny Pereda broke out the heat to strikeout Ohtani ... and kept the ball 😂 pic.twitter.com/A8TXdjizI0
— MLB (@MLB) May 16, 2025
Even Pereda was surprised, and he gestured at Shea Langeliers to throw the ball to the dugout so he could keep it as a memory.
Pereda has played in just 12 games this season entering Thursday as he is a backup catcher for the Athletics. Yet, somehow. he struck out Ohtani, on his own bobblehead night, at home, despite hitting two home runs earlier in the game.
Pereda finished the inning with four hits and three runs and just one strikeout, which came against arguably the best player in baseball.
Baseball is weird sometimes.
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