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.'”
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"
— ℳatt (@matttomic) May 18, 2021
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.
Shohei Ohtani’s outing was the 26th since at least 1901 with 10+ strikeouts and no runs allowed on Opening Day
it’s the first time that pitcher’s team lost the game
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 31, 2023
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.
Shohei Ohtani is the first player to draw an #OpeningDay intentional walk after starting the game as a pitcher since Brooklyn's Dutch Ruether in 1923 vs. Philaelphia https://t.co/R5rvRVXCKa
— Matt Birch (@MattBirch12) March 31, 2023
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.
I see the Angels just pulled a Tungsten Arm O'Doyle moment early in the season.
Poor Ohtani.
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) March 31, 2023
Cue the ‘Tungsten Arm’ O’Doyle tweets, @SamBlum3 😅
The Angels continue to make the wrong kind of history. pic.twitter.com/IOtyV2dW4b
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 31, 2023
That… THAT’S TUNGSTEN ARM O’DOYLE’S MUSIC! https://t.co/0DR6maTbp8
— Philip Michaels (@PhilipMichaels) March 31, 2023
“Tungsten Arm” O’Doyle season is back https://t.co/ars0mnUXEk
— Clay Winstead (@ClayWinstead) March 31, 2023
Someone let @DragonflyJonez know the Tungsten Arm O'Doyle shenanigans are continuing unabated https://t.co/Cdd54RvWfe
— Brandon J. McKoy (@Brandon_McKoy) March 31, 2023
It only took one game for new "Tungsten Arm O'Doyle" stat for Shohei Ohtani this season. https://t.co/arw4oKUDV2
— Evan Barnes (@evan_b) March 31, 2023
[Mattomic, Sarah Langs, Matt Birch]
