Shohei Ohtani’s World Baseball Classic grand slam lands with mother-son duo, their shocked reaction goes viral

Fans at the Tokyo Dome were already excited to watch Shohei Ohtani play in the World Baseball Classic. But in the second inning against Chinese Taipei, the moment turned unforgettable. With the bases loaded, Ohtani crushed a towering grand slam to right field. The ball flew deep into the stands and landed in the hands of a fan named Hikaru Kudo, who was sitting with his mother. Kudo could hardly believe what had just happened. Cameras quickly caught his stunned reaction as he held the historic ball. Speaking about the moment later, he said, “It’s the best time of my life.”

The clip and photo of the emotional moment quickly spread across social media. A post sharing Kudo holding the ball gained nearly 700,000 views on X, according to baseball reporter Sam Blum, who first shared the moment online. Thousands of fans reacted to the story as Japan went on to dominate the game. Ohtani’s blast also set the tone early. Japan exploded for a huge second inning and never looked back, starting their tournament run with a commanding victory.

Shohei Ohtani’s grand slam sparks huge inning as Masataka Yoshida, Munetaka Murakami and Sosuke Genda power Japan to mercy-rule win

The grand slam from Shohei Ohtani opened the scoring and immediately energized the crowd inside the Tokyo Dome. At that moment, Munetaka Murakami, Shugo Maki, and Sosuke Genda were already on base. Ohtani’s swing cleared the right-field stands and brought all four runners home.

That hit started a massive inning for Japan. By the time the second inning ended, Japan had scored 10 runs. The pressure never stopped. Masataka Yoshida, Munetaka Murakami, Sosuke Genda, and Keiya Wakatsuki all added runs batted in as the lineup kept moving.

Japan continued to add more in the third inning. Kazuma Okamoto, who recently signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, drove in another run with a single that scored Seiya Suzuki. Soon after, Genda delivered a two-run single that pushed the lead to 13–0.

That score would hold. Because of the mercy rule, the game ended after seven innings. In the World Baseball Classic, the rule is applied when a team leads by 10 runs after seven innings or 15 runs after five innings during pool play.

Ohtani’s grand slam also added a small piece of history. It became only the third grand slam ever hit by Samurai Japan in World Baseball Classic history. The previous two came from Norichika Aoki in 2009 and Seiya Suzuki in 2023, both against China. For Japan, the win was the perfect start to the tournament.

Chinese Taipei is scheduled to face Czechia next, while Japan prepares for a high-profile matchup against South Korea in its next pool game. But for many fans watching that night, the moment they will remember most is still that soaring Ohtani swing and the stunned smile of a fan who caught the ball.




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