Current:Home > ScamsShohei Ohtani hears rare boos from spurned Blue Jays fans - then hits a home run -Wealth Legacy Solutions
Shohei Ohtani hears rare boos from spurned Blue Jays fans - then hits a home run
View
Date:2025-04-16 09:12:34
Shohei Ohtani finally took to the skies in Toronto - at the expense of the Blue Jays, no less.
Hearing boos for one of the few times in his career after erroneous December media reports had him ticketed to join the Blue Jays in free agency, Ohtani silenced the Rogers Centre crowd Friday night with a towering home run in his first at-bat in Toronto since the free agent frenzy.
Ohtani hit his seventh home run of the season off Toronto starter Chris Bassitt, bringing some sense of closure to one of the stranger offseason episodes in major league history.
In case you forgot: An MLB Network report stated Ohtani was on his way to Toronto on Dec. 8, and a separate report indicated Ohtani had reached agreement with the Blue Jays - sparking an online frenzy to track a flight from Southern California to Toronto.
One problem: Ohtani was not on the plane. And no agreement was in place.
MLB SALARIES: Baseball's top 25 highest-paid players in 2024
Instead, a day later, Ohtani announced on Instagram he had reached agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His 10-year, $700 million deal ensured the globe's biggest baseball star would join one of the game's most storied franchises.
It also set the stage for a lackluster offseason for the Blue Jays, who failed to significantly upgrade a playoff team and currently are off to a 13-13 start.
So it was little wonder that the home crowd was a little salty Friday night - not that Ohtani had anything to do with sparking their false hopes nearly five months ago.
"I was as surprised as any fans in terms of the news going around," Ohtani said this week in Washington, via interpreter Will Ireton. "I was just following the news. I knew I wasn’t on that flight, so I was curious, too. But I did meet with the Blue Jays organization and the impression I got was it’s a really, really great organization.
"The fans are great and I love the city too, so I’m really looking forward to going to Toronto."
You'd think it was nothing personal, but Blue Jays fans did not take it that way.
Ohtani's response, then, was strictly business.
veryGood! (47)
Related
- Olympic women's basketball bracket: Schedule, results, Team USA's path to gold
- Man drowns while trying to swim across river with daughter on his back
- Rihanna Shares Struggles With Postpartum Hair Loss
- Man who died at 110 was 'always inquisitive.' Now scientists will study his brain.
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- A gray wolf was killed in southern Michigan. Experts remain stumped about how it got there.
- Dozens of hikers became ill during trips to waterfalls near the Grand Canyon
- What does each beach flag color mean? A guide to the warning system amid severe weather and shark attacks
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Attorney charged in voting machine tampering case announces run for Michigan Supreme Court
Ranking
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Say his name: How Joe Hendry became the biggest viral star in wrestling
- Camels run loose, stroll Cedar Point theme park after enclosure escape: Watch
- Why Shakira Compares Pain From Gerard Pique Breakup to Being Stabbed in the Chest
- RFK Jr. grilled again about moving to California while listing New York address on ballot petition
- President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sign 10-year security deal
- 'Once-in-a-lifetime event': Explosion in space to look like new star, NASA says
- Love Is Blind's Taylor Rue Suffers Pregnancy Loss With Boyfriend Cameron Shelton
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
PCE or CPI? US inflation is measured two ways, here's how they compare
Teen Mom Star Amber Portwood's Fiancé Gary Wayt Spotted Amid Disappearance Investigation
What to know about a series of storms that has swamped South Florida with flash floods
Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
Man who died at 110 was 'always inquisitive.' Now scientists will study his brain.
USA Basketball won't address tweets from coach Cheryl Reeve that referenced Caitlin Clark
Massachusetts on verge of becoming second-to-last state to outlaw ‘revenge porn’