Things Went Terribly Wrong for an Italian Hitter After He Stared Down Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani is one of the coolest baseball players to ever play the game and all of his incredible skills have been on full display at the World Baseball Classic. He has led Japan to a trip to the semifinals where they will face either Puerto Rico or Mexico in Miami.

Ohtani picked up the win on the mound in Japan’s quarterfinal victory over Italy on Thursday and he also reached base on a bunt and scored two runs. Just another typical game for the Angels star who can really do it all.

Ohtani also had a fun moment when it looked like Italy’s Brett Sullivan stared him down a little bit after fouling off a 99-mph fastball. It looked like the Padres catcher thought he had figured Ohtani out.

But no, he didn’t. Instead, this happened:

Shohei Ohtani, 99mph Fastball (fouled off).

Sullivan stares back at Shohei like he's on it/challenging him.

Next pitch, Wicked 93mph Splitter for the K.

I love this sequence. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hpDaowbYFH
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 17, 2023

Nice try, dude.

Baseball fans rightfully loved it:

Bad idea. This kind of stare down sends a universally understood message. Even on Shohei's home planet. 👽🛸

And Shohei has the best clutch stats in Earth's history. https://t.co/lV8BBaI55R
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 17, 2023

Ohtani is very different. I’ve never seen anything like it https://t.co/lPf4KfBGa4
— PiffBoy (@Dee_Realest) March 17, 2023

Sullivan found out. 😂 🇯🇵 https://t.co/D2Of4Zal7v
— OverstreetDad (@AthleteDadx3) March 17, 2023

Staring down the best player in the world after fouling off 99 at the belt never ends well. Capped off with a 93mph splitter for the K. The best ending to an AB I’ve ever seen 😂 https://t.co/0SIoQ3B4WN
— Colt ⚾ (@coltonhaight_18) March 17, 2023

he's unreal https://t.co/qaA4qcvbwU
— ky 😪 (@kylachingona) March 17, 2023