There’s just something about the smile that stretches across a young fan’s face when they have the opportunity to meet their favorite player. Multiply that by a thousand when that player is Shohei Ohtani.
Thursday was Ohtani’s bobblehead night, and before the game the Dodgers superstar surprised 13-year-old Albert, a pediatric patient at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. Albert’s reaction was priceless when Ohtani entered the room, as though he was unsure this was really happening. He’s not the first to be in awe of No. 17 – you might remember Elly De La Cruz poking Ohtani when they met at second base last season, making sure he was, in fact, real.
“Nervous?” Ohtani said after shaking Albert’s hand. He then gave the teen a signed jersey and delivered the biggest surprise of all. Albert would be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch with Ohtani behind the plate.
That left him entirely speechless, much to the surprise of one of his family members who was there in the room for the meeting.
“I’ve never seen him this quiet before. He’s so quiet,” they said.
There was one more gift that needed delivering, and Ohtani relayed the news that after throwing out the first pitch, Albert would be watching the game from a suite. That caused his jaw to drop once more.
Once Ohtani left the room, Albert was understandably able to get some words out and summed the experience up perfectly.
“What the heck just happened?”
“First thing I thought was like, ‘Oh, he’s tall.’” Albert went on. “I couldn’t even breathe for like 30 seconds.”
It was a night Albert will never forget, and one he’ll certainly have no trouble recounting to his friends many times over – as long as Shohei is not in the room with him, of course.
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