On Tuesday evening, Shohei Ohtani hit the second-hardest pull-side dwelling run by a left-handed batter at PNC Park this season. If that doesn’t sound prefer it may make your head explode, effectively, that’s the purpose. I picked essentially the most boring technique to inform the story.
Anybody who noticed this specific dwelling run is aware of {that a} extra correct illustration of the expertise can be this: On Tuesday evening, Shohei Ohtani hit the toughest ball of his whole profession, turning round a 99-mph Bubba Chandler fastball on the within nook and launching a 120-mph missile that skimmed over the Pittsburgh turf and triggered a collection of small explosions because it crashed into the fitting discipline bleachers. It was the third-hardest-hit ball of your entire 2025 season, and the sixth-hardest dwelling run within the 10-year historical past of the Statcast period.
Anybody who noticed this specific dwelling run is aware of know that it was highly effective sufficient to detonate a skull, or least highly effective sufficient to make a face do that:
That’s Alex Freeland, and if this image is any indication, bearing witness to Ohtani’s dwelling run pressured him to reevaluate his relationship with actuality. That’s how I’d like to inform the story of this dwelling run, by way of the facial expressions of the individuals who witnessed it. The story of Ohtani’s dwelling run is one in all awe, disbelief, and concern, all of which have been depicted on faces across the ballpark. In case you missed it, right here’s a video of the house run in query:
That’s not a foul pitch. Chandler most likely needed it a bit increased, but it surely’s 99 mph proper on the within nook and never that removed from the underside of the zone both. You possibly can definitely do worse towards a giant left-handed slugger who does most of his injury on pitches out over the plate.
Let’s begin with the individuals who have been closest to it. Ohtani’s face is inscrutable. It remained inscrutable as he jogged across the bases, high-fived and high-fived his teammates. Understandably, he could have been the one individual in your entire stadium who didn’t appear remotely shocked that he’d simply hit a ball 120 mph. That’s simply one other day on the workplace for Shohei Ohtani:
Each dwelling plate umpire Nic Lentz and catcher Henry Davis observe the ball with their eyes, however you need to zoom in to essentially make out their facial expressions. Lentz’s eyes are open vast with marvel. Davis’ are narrower. He’s chagrined. He’s monitoring the ball, however he’s wanting into the center distance. That is the expression of a person who has spent his whole skilled profession within the Pittsburgh Pirates group.
The face I actually love belongs to the fan to Ohtani’s left. The digicam cuts off four-fifths of his head, leaving solely his backside lip, which is hooked up to his jaw, which is within the technique of dropping. It seems to be just like the blast blew the highest off his head, as if Ohtani rendered him infinitely agape:
As a result of masks cowl the jaws of each Lentz and Davis, it’s enjoyable to fake that their mouths are doing the very same factor beneath all of the padding.
We additionally obtained a aspect view of the homer. Within the nonetheless under, taken as Ohtani finishes his follow-through and tracks the ball, I depend one photographer and 41 followers of whom we are able to see sufficient to find out what they’re taking note of. Nineteen of them, or 46%, are on their telephones, however almost all of them are paying consideration. Fifteen of them (two largely obscured by Ohtani) are filming his at-bat in case one thing spectacular occurs. Two are texting, and two are huddled over a telephone attempting to learn one thing or make out a picture. I’m positive the followers who’re filming will come away with nice footage, however at this time limit, simply eight of them are literally following the ball, both with their eyes or their telephone. The opposite seven are nonetheless observing their telephones and haven’t registered what’s taking place but. They haven’t reacted in any respect. You possibly can argue that they missed it:
As you may anticipate, the followers straight behind the plate a lot are much less . These are the fanciest seats for the fanciest individuals, however not essentially the largest baseball followers. (The fan-iest individuals? No, that’s undoubtedly not it.) We’ll zoom nearer in a second, however the shot under exhibits the 2 priciest sections in your entire ballpark, and as Ohtani follows by way of, solely three individuals on this whole image have reacted. Can you see them?
One is the fan I identified earlier, sitting proper behind Ohtani and to his left, whose head is within the technique of flying off. The opposite two are Dodgers followers within the third-to-last row, simply to the fitting of the steps, and they’re completely agog:
Actually nobody else of their part has reacted in any respect. Few of them have even turned their heads within the path of the ball but, however this couple is already aghast. You possibly can virtually hear the “Ohhhhhh” that’s escaping them each in unison. As a result of he’s on the aisle, you possibly can see that the person all the best way to the left has his proper fist clenched tightly. That is what baseball followers appear to be.
If we take that first picture and zoom all the best way out so we are able to get two extra sections in body, we’ll discover three extra followers who’re paying sufficient consideration to be blown away by Ohtani’s blast. All three of those children seem like at saying the phrase “Whoa” at their very own tempo:
And that’s it. In essentially the most zoomed-out model of this nonetheless body, I counted 108 followers. As the sport’s greatest star obliterated a 99-mph fastball from the house crew’s prime prospect, launching one of the vital highly effective dwelling runs anybody has ever seen, just below 6.5% of the followers in the most effective seats in the home reacted. A pair extra would react by the point the digicam lower away and Ohtani left the batter’s field to start out circling the bases, however we’re nonetheless comfortably beneath 10% right here. Abolish these comfortable seats and provides them again to the individuals.
We’ll give attention to two extra individuals who didn’t react in any respect, however they’ve obtained a reasonably good excuse. Because the excessive digicam in the fitting discipline nook tracked the ball, we obtained fast pans throughout your entire outfield. They confirmed the reactions of all three outfielders. The appropriate fielder took a pair steps as a result of the ball was hit as such a low angle that it appeared like there was an opportunity it would bounce off the highest of the wall, and when it’s hit proper at you want that, it may be a bit arduous to learn. However the left and heart fielders knew higher. As quickly as Ohtani swung, they slumped from prepared place right into a slouch. They by no means took a step:
The story was very completely different in the fitting discipline stands, the place a variety of issues occurred in a short time. Earlier, I discussed a collection of explosions. I used to be exaggerating, however not by as a lot as you may assume. The primary was delicate. Ohtani hit this ball so arduous and at such a low angle that it made it to the fitting discipline seats very quickly. Within the nonetheless under, the ball has simply landed. You possibly can’t see it, however strive to determine the place it’s. You must observe the eyes:
Perhaps it could assist if I linked some dots for you:
Everybody on the surface of the body is leaning in towards that one spot, however all people close to this spot is leaning away from it. Actually nobody tried to catch this ball within the air. They have been too terrified. I’m undecided I’ve ever seen that earlier than. A wave swept by way of the followers nearest the epicenter, pushing them away. I depend 12 individuals leaning away from the baseball; I’d classify six of them as cowering in concern, and I see one individual totally within the fetal place:
One of many cowerers has extra proper than the others. The girl within the very center of the body, sporting a black Betty Boop t-shirt and screaming in terror, reaches out to dam the ball together with her left hand. It appears to hit the house proper between her and her neighbor within the orange UVA trucker hat, then bounces off her outstretched hand and settles proper at her ft. As quickly because the ball lands, nonetheless, the concern is gone. Everyone needs it. It’s now not a lethal projectile. It’s a memento. The wave sweeps again in towards the epicenter like an explosion so highly effective that it pressured all of the air out of the blast zone, and the air is now dashing again in to fill the vacuum:
On the left, a fan within the entrance row sporting a quantity a no. 30 Pirates jersey with “BEER” on the again – deciding on Seth Beer within the minor league part of the Rule 5 draft actually is the present that retains on giving – sees his alternative. Between the Beer jersey and an Ohtani dwelling run ball, he’ll by no means need to pay for a drink once more. He sprints previous his neighbor, additionally cowering, and offers her complete new purpose to recoil. He smashes her very full beer can along with his hand, arduous. First it splashes everybody within the neighborhood, then it erupts, sending up a sustained three-foot tall geyser of suds:
The man is method too late. The girl within the Betty Boop shirt reaches down, and though she will get a face filled with beer and her sun shades fall from the highest of her head onto her nostril, she picks it up simply. “I noticed it coming proper at me,” she appears to say as everybody wipes the beer off themselves. “Holy shit,” says the girl three seats to her proper. One man spies an opportunity to get on TV. He runs over from 25 ft away, vegetation himself in entrance of the bearer of the ball and waves his arms backwards and forwards. He’s now formally well-known:
Within the dugout, the Dodgers are wanting expectantly on the scoreboard, ready for the exit velocity to seem. Enrique Hernández spots the quantity first. He smiles and factors for the advantage of Dalton Dashing, who whips his head round too. The quantity forces a grimace from Blake Snell, which makes him look 10% extra Blake Snell than common. Tyler Glasnow seems to utter his personal “Holy shit.” Someplace at the back of the dugout, Alex Freeland begins to wonder if something is actual:
Dashing can’t comprise himself. He smacks his fingers to his face like Kevin McCallister. He turns first to the neighbor on his left then the neighbor on his proper. “One-twenty!” he exclaims in every path:
As Ohtani collects his excessive fives, Dodgers assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness raises his fingers to his shoulder to mime firing a bazooka:
The ultimate face belongs to poor Bubba Chandler. As he walks across the mound to gather himself, he sneaks a peek on the exit velocity too. He closes his eyes and puffs out his cheeks. You possibly can nearly hear him pondering, “I didn’t need to take care of this again in Triple-A.”
