The Los Angeles Dodgers and those in attendance at loanDepot Park on Thursday night were able to properly celebrate Shohei Ohtani notching an important piece of MLB history-all thanks to veteran umpire Dan Iassonga. Ohtani, of course, became the first player in MLB history to tally at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season when he blasted his second of three dingers in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 20–4 win over the Miami Marlins.
As he crossed home plate, crew chief Iassonga dusted off home plate to give Ohtani a few extra moments to celebrate. He also killed some time by chatting with the Marlins’ bat boy, and later waved off a pitch clock violation so the Dodgers could have enough time to congratulate their teammate.
Iassonga very well could have called an automatic strike on the next batter, outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, to keep the game moving, but he recognized the situation and let Ohtani have his moment.
Iassonga is in his 22nd year as an MLB umpire. He’s been a full-time umpire in the big leagues since 2004 and has worked three World Series over his career in 2012, ’17 and ’22. And now, the 55-year-old can say he was on the field for one of the biggest baseball milestones of the 21st century.
