Shohei Ohtani’s solo home run on in the first inning on Friday night in Toronto was his seventh of the season, which was yet another record for the Dodgers designated hitter. This time he tied his manager, Dave Roberts, for most homers in franchise history by a player born in Japan.
Ohtani on Sunday at Dodger Stadium hit his 176th career home run, which passed Hideki Matsui for most in major league history by a player born in Japan. Then on Tuesday in Washington D.C., Ohtani hit the hardest home run of his career, just shy of 119 mph off the bat.
But this Dodgers record is a bit more obscure, especially when it was previously headed for the last 22 years by a player known for his speed, not necessarily his power.
Before Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, the list of players born in Japan to homer with the Dodgers was sparse, with just Roberts and three pitchers — Hideo Nomo hit four homers with Los Angeles, while Kazuhisa Ishii and Kenta Maeda (in his first MLB game!) hit one apiece.
Back on April 12, when Ohtani tied Matsui’s career mark, Roberts was asked about his own Dodgers home run record for players born in Japan. Ohtani at the time had four home runs on the season.
“I still have a couple of days before my record is broken,” Roberts quipped.
When the third of Ohtani’s three doubles on Wednesday at Nationals Park nearly was a home run, Roberts had a similar reaction.
For now, Roberts still shares the mark with Ohtani, so let’s look back at all seven home runs Roberts hit with the Dodgers.
May 21, 2002: Dodgers at Brewers
4th inning, 2 outsoff RHP Nelson Figueroa
Roberts’ first Dodgers home run was hit to right field in Milwaukee. Roberts also stole a base in this game and helped the Dodgers to a 5-0 lead through six innings with Kevin Brown on the mound. But the Brewers rallied for a crazy eight in the seventh off Brown and Giovanni Carrara to give the home team the win.
May 25, 2002: Dodgers at D-backs
2nd inning, 2 outs, grand slamoff RHP Rick Helling
Roberts’ started the scoring in what was a Dodgers rout with a second-inning grand slam at Bank One Ballpark. After a walk to pitcher Andy Ashby to load the bases and Arizona leading 1-0, Rick Helling was in a pickle.
From Mike DiGiovanna at the Los Angeles Times:
“Not wanting to walk Roberts and force in a run, Helling grooved a 2-1 fastball that Roberts sent over the wall in right for his second career grand slam, his first coming at Toronto on Sept. 24, 1999.”
Roberts had three hits in this game, including a double, stole a base, and scored three runs. His four RBI tied a career high, done also with Cleveland (with his other grand slam) in 1999 and with San Diego in 2006.
Roberts’ first two home runs with the Dodgers coincided with one of the great power streaks in major league history. Shawn Green entered that May 21 game hitting just .231/.339/.346 with three home runs in 42 games, and was in a 1-for-19 skid. Green homered twice in that May 21 game, then hit four two days later in arguably the best offensive game ever, homered once on May 24, and hit two more in this May 25 game. Green’s nine home runs are the most-ever in a five-game stretch, during which he raised his seasonal OPS from .685 to .930.
September 21, 2002: Dodgers at Padres
1st inning, 0 outsoff RHP Jake Peavy
Facing the San Diego rookie Peavy, a future teammate of Roberts who would win a Cy Young five years later, Roberts hit the first leadoff home run of his career. But it was a costly blow.
Roberts strained a muscle in his right rib cage on the home run swing, and left the game and missed the final seven games of the season.
April 1, 2003: Dodgers at D-backs
8th inning, 1 outs, 2 onoff RHP Curt Schilling
Schilling never won a Cy Young Award, but he finished second in the two seasons before this one, and finished second again the next year after this one. Arizona led this second game of the season 4-0 until the Dodgers rallied for four runs in the eighth, the first three of which came on a three-run shot by Roberts. The Dodgers eventually lost in 10 innings.
“You get four against Curt Schilling, you think that you have a good chance to win,” Roberts told Brian Dohn of the Los Angeles Daily News.
August 9, 2003: Dodgers vs. Cubs
1st inning, 0 outsoff RHP Matt Clement
Another leadoff home run for Roberts, and this was the only inside-the-park home run of his career. He grounded a ball past Aramis Ramirez inside the third base line, and it bounded into the left field corner, where it caromed off the wall past a stumbling Moises Alou, allowing Roberts to score standing up.
Of concern for Roberts were two previous injured-list stints that season with hamstring strains, missing 13 games in May and 21 more in July. This home run was about two weeks after returning from that second injury.
“In Atlanta [six days before], I legged out a tripled and I felt a little fatigue in my leg, but tonight there was none. I could have kept running, and that was a good feeling for me,” Roberts told the Associated Press. “When I hit it, I was thinking of two. I was just coming around second and I saw it get by him, but I didn’t know by how far. And on that rubber track, it just kept going a little bit further. So I didn’t slow down.”
April 28, 2004: Dodgers vs. Mets
3rd inning, 1 outoff RHP Steve Trachsel
Of Roberts’ 23 career home runs, this one was the longest battle, fouling off five pitches and running the count full against Trachsel before hitting the 11th pitch of the at-bat over the wall in right center field at Dodger Stadium.
Roberts was off to a hot start in 2004, hitting .281/.415/.375 through this game, and also in the fifth inning stole his major-league-leading 14th base in the Dodgers’ 20th game of the season.
“I just wanted to have a good at-bat and hit the ball hard somewhere,” Roberts told Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. “A home run was the last thing of my mind.”
June 5, 2004: Dodgers at D-backs
4th inning, 2 out, 2 onoff RHP Édgar González
This was part of a three-hit night for Roberts, whose three-run shot was the highlight of a six-run fourth inning in a 10-3 blowout in Phoenix.
Roberts also stole a base in this game, which was fitting considering speed and baserunning was such a huge part of his game. He stole 118 bases, at an 82.5-percent clip, in 302 games with the Dodgers over three seasons. That included stealing a base in five of the seven games with the Dodgers in which he homered.