While Shohei Ohtani pitched great, the Angels lost, reminding baseball fans of the legend of Tungsten Arm O'Doyle March 30, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Angels opened their season on Thursday with a 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics. This loss came despite a brilliant outing from starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani.

So, it took one day of the 2023 season for the name Tungsten Arm O’Doyle to resurface on Twitter.

If you’ve been following baseball for a few seasons, you’re probably familiar with Tungsten Arm O’Doyle. If you’re a new fan, you should probably get familiar because chances are, it’s a name you’ll hear a few times during the season.

In May, 2021, a fan sent out a tweet that highlighted the Angels’ failures to surround generational talents like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani with good teams.

It read, “every time I see an Angels highlight it’s like ‘”Mike Trout hit three homes runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn’t been done since ‘Tungsten Arm’ O’Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3.'”

In fairness, Trout had a relatively quiet day on Thursday, going 0-for-3 with a walk. But Ohtani, as usual, was special. He pitched six shutout innings, allowed only two hits, walked three and struck out 10. Since 1901, 25 other pitchers had gone six or more shutout innings while striking out 10 on Opening Day. Unlike the other 25, Ohtani’s team lost.

As a hitter, he was 1-for-3 with a walk. The last time a game’s starting pitcher drew an intentional walk on Opening Day was 100 years ago, when the franchise that we now all know as the Los Angeles Dodgers was the Brooklyn Robins.

And with that, Tungsten Arm O’Doyle, after hibernating through a long winter and taking a break during Ohtani’s dominant run through the World Baseball Classic, was officially back.

[Mattomic, Sarah Langs, Matt Birch]

About Michael Dixon

Michael is a writer and editor for The Comeback Media. He is Bay Area native living in the Indianapolis area. Michael is also a big nerd when it comes to sports history and to a slightly lesser extent, all history. Beyond that, loves tacos, pizza and random Seinfeld quotes.

Feel free to voice your agreements or disagreements. If you do so respectfully, Michael will gladly respond in kind.

Twitter: @mfdixon1985 (mostly personal but a lot of sports)/@mdixonsports (All work/sports related)

Email: mdixon@thecomeback.com