It was one of the iconic baseball moments of the year, but it happened before MLB’s regular season even began. And until yesterday, Mike Trout hadn’t said a word about it publicly.
Trout’s strikeout against Los Angeles Angels teammate Shohei Ohtani provided a thrilling ending to the World Baseball Classic championship game in March as Japan defeated Team USA 3-2. And for the first time since that unique and historic clash between two of MLB’s best players, Trout admitted that when he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning to face Ohtani, “I was trying to take him deep.”
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Speaking Wednesday on Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts’ show “On Base,” Trout said he began to think about the possibility of facing Ohtani the previous inning, when he saw him warming up in Japan’s bullpen.
“I’m going to get him here,” Trout recalled thinking at the time.
Trout said he had never faced Ohtani before, not even in batting practice.
“I only see him from behind,” Trout laughed.
After admitting he missed a good pitch to hit on Ohtani’s 1-0 fastball down the middle, Trout ultimately struck out swinging on a 3-2 slider to end the game.
Ohtani was named the tournament MVP as Japan won its third WBC title.
Trout also revealed that he and Ohtani haven’t talked about that at-bat at all while playing together this season − and they probably won’t, preferring to in his words, “let it ride.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Trout breaks silence about iconic at-bat vs. Shohei Ohtani in WBC