It was quite the scene at Dodger Stadium on Monday night when two Los Angeles superstars met for the very first time.
Shohei Ohtani is arguably the biggest star in all of baseball. And while it’s a stretch to call Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink a superstar just yet, she certainly has a loyal fan following.
The two had a heartfelt meeting before the Dodgers game against the rival Arizona Diamondbacks.
Brink is getting acclimated to her new city after being drafted by the Sparks with the second-overall pick in last month’s WNBA Draft.
Brink’s collegiate career at Stanford was nothing short of stellar.
She made an immediate impact in her freshman year, culminating in a national championship. In her sophomore year, she shared Pac-12 Player of the Year honors and set a Stanford all-time record in blocks. Come her senior season, Brink averaged 17.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and an impressive 3.7 blocks per game.
Her accolades include multiple Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards, highlighting her dual-threat capability on both ends of the court.
Brink, along with teammate Rickea Jackson, was invited to throw out the first pitch prior to the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game.
But before she took the mound, Brink met Ohtani who is no stranger to the game of basketball himself.
After all, Ohtani just recently got married to Japanese professional basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.
Just a day before their meet-up, Ohtani came through in the clutch with a walk-off hit that led the Dodgers to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
This marked his second major league walk-off hit, the first being an 11th-inning single for the Los Angeles Angels in a win over Houston on September 4, 2020.
“I was looking to just put the ball in play, so I’m glad it worked out well,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We dropped the first game of the series, so we really wanted to finish strong.”
For the season, Ohtani is batting .356 with 13 home runs, 34 RBI’s and a 1.080 OPS.
Unsurprisingly, the loaded-Dodgers stand in first place in the NL West with a 33-18 record.
The 29-year-old is in the first year of his historic 10-year, $700 million contract.
Meanwhile, Brink is just getting her season started for the Sparks who have stumbled out to a 1-2 start on the year.
Brink is putting up respectable numbers thus far, averaging 6 points, 6 rebounds and an impressive 3.7 blocks per game.
Interestingly, her Godbrother is NBA superstar Steph Curry.
Getting back to Ohtani … Is he indeed the best player in all of baseball?
How about the Dodgers this season? … They are arguably the best team on paper, but will they end up winning the World Series?
At the end of the day, do you think the $700 million will be money well-spent for the Dodgers? … Or do you think Ohtani will end up breaking down physically at some point prior to the end of the deal???