‘Back on the board’: Ohtani tallies first HR as dad
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani‘s “Dad Strength” is finally beginning to kick in as the Dodgers slugger hit his first home run since the birth of his daughter to jump-start a 15-2 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday night.
“It was a good home run to get back on the board for this game,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I haven’t hit one since being a father, so it’s a really nice one to be able to do that.”
Whether it’s myth or statistically proven fact, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is a firm believer in “Dad Strength,” the theory that some players gain physical strength and stamina upon entering fatherhood. MLB.com’s research department found that among the more than 200 instances of hitters returning to action from the paternity list from 2011 to 2024, 28 hit a home run in their first game back.
“Now that he’s a father,” Roberts said last week, “we might see some 120 mph exit velocities off the bat.”
Ohtani, the 2024 National League MVP, hit .125 (2-for-16) with zero RBIs and six strikeouts in his first four games back from paternity leave.
But in his past four games, Ohtani is batting .467 (7-for-15) with one homer, three doubles, a triple and two RBIs, and the home run he hit Tuesday night on Sandy Alcantara‘s first pitch of the game left his bat at 114 mph and traveled 394 feet.
“That was a big tone-setter,” Roberts said of Ohtani’s 14th career leadoff homer. “I think we feed off of Shohei, certainly at the top of the order. For him to make it a 1-1 game after the first pitch their starter throws certainly gets some life into our offense, and we just took it from there. When he’s going, you can see our offense sort of follows suit.”
Ohtani’s homer sparked a three-run first-inning, and the Dodgers went on to rack up 18 hits, including four by Teoscar Hernández, who drove in four runs to become the major league leader with 31 RBIs, and three by Andy Pages highlighted by an eight-inning home run.
The game was such a blowout, the Dodgers scoring three in the third, four in the sixth and three in the eighth, that both teams finished with position players on the mound: outfielder Javier Sanoja for the Marlins and utility man Kiké Hernández for the Dodgers.
Ohtani is still trying to adjust to fatherhood since the birth of his daughter on April 19, especially the disruption of his sleep schedule. Ohtani likes to get at least 10 hours of sleep a night and take lengthy naps before games.
“A little change in the routine in terms of, for example today I went to the hospital and came straight to the field,” Ohtani said, later telling Japanese writers that it is customary for some Japanese women to spend a week or two in the hospital after giving birth. “Just being here at home is nice to be able to spend time, but on the road, it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge since I won’t be here.
“But I’m just grateful for the safe delivery. I’m glad that even though I couldn’t sleep as much as I wanted to, it’s a good kind of not-getting-enough-sleep situation.”
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Greg Wyshynski
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
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