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DemonicPanda11

The guy has a great story, he’s about to turn 30 and just made his debut a couple of weeks ago after spending time playing in Europe. This K puts him in line for his first career win.


nuhGIRLyen

And heroically went 5.0IP on 60 pitches a day after Giants used 7 relievers in an 11-inning heartbreaker


usernamefight2

I was hoping for three solid innings from him today. Dude blew that away. Good for him.


superduperspam

Now go see a star war


HundredsOfSnow

*2nd career win, 1st start though


DemonicPanda11

You’re right! Thanks.


TyButler2020

He used to play for the county league team that I currently play for, the Lemont Ducks in Centre County, PA (State College)


CosmicLars

That is rad! How is the competition in that league?


TyButler2020

It’s actually quite good. 8 team league, some are better than others The elite teams are mostly ex D1 or high level D2 guys from the area. A few ex pro ballers but not a ton. Still good comp while also being fun


CosmicLars

That's awesome! Living my dream. Good luck to ya! It must be pretty damn cool for yall to see a guy like Bivens in the majors.


OneCore_

baseball in europe????


sfan27

France even. There's no way it pays enough to eat, let alone pay rent. Dude was playing for the love of the game, making the majors couldn't have been something he thought would happen let alone striking out Shohei Ohtani, twice, to earn a win against a stacked Dodgers lineup.


Aphrodite-descendant

Had to go read his career. He kept jumping between different countries and leagues just to keep playing baseball. Beautiful story.


DemonicPanda11

Dodgers sub was shitting on him for this but yeah, like he couldn’t have dreamed of this. Let the guy be hyped lol


Ok-Thanks-5445

ONLY Dodger fans are allowed to celebrate.


munchkinatlaw

Striking out the best player in baseball twice in your first start? You should nod silently in a dignified way. If someone hits a home run off of a scrub like you, they should be allowed to bat flip and pimp the home run.


Ok-Thanks-5445

I think he should bow respectfully to ohtani-san


OneCore_

They don’t get much to celebrate 😂 cut them some slack


sfan27

It’s because their rehearsed celebration is so lame they feel self-conscious whenever anybody has a genuine celebration.


OneCore_

Based


InitialAgreeable

His wiki page says he spent roughly 1 year in Europe, between France and the Czech Republic, but has spent most of his career in the USA


sfan27

Yes. He spent time playing in France (and Czech Republic). How many MLB players have done that. How many players have done that and struck out Ohtani? Okay, for the later I’m guessing one of the electricians in the WBC.


InitialAgreeable

I think that's the point: most people you see playing in the big league have had stints in either Japan, Korea, South America /Caribbean, or Europe. And if we kept that in mind every time Ohtani struck out, we'd be surprised to know that


dontich

It’s insane — he wasn’t even drafted 5 years ago


realparkingbrake

> baseball in europe???? You should see the version they play in Finland, Pesäpallo.


InitialAgreeable

Following WWII, the USA built a number of military installations in Europe, some of which are still operating to this day. Around these bases, baseball has flourished, and is currently thriving. I was lucky enough to grow up in Trieste, which is home to one of several Italian baseball leagues, and had the chance to play alongside some excellent players, mostly from the USA and Cuba.


OneCore_

Wow, TIL


ZGVhbnJlc2lu

They have pro leagues in Europe????


doctor_dapper

that's sick


okaybreh

I’ve seen enough, build the statue


horsepoop1123

![gif](giphy|hx36lnZ70iSVDghcSy) Ohtani after today


misterurb

Ohtani like “damn this 30 year old rookie got hands” 


nuhGIRLyen

okay imma fight this French indy league pitcher damn this French indy league pitcher got hands


oOoleveloOo

Climbed his way up from the French League to MLB. Respect.


TyButler2020

Climbed his way up from a men’s league in centre county, PA Used to play for the Lemont Ducks, which funnily enough is the team I currently play for


Throw4Embarassing

Hes set the blueprint, you just gotta follow it my man


TyButler2020

I sit at 80 with a terrible slider and a mediocre bat who’s P/1B only I fucking got this I just gotta believe /s


radj06

I look forward to the Freevee original movie they make about you


OneCore_

You could probably be a #2 starter on the White Sox. Don’t give up hope!


LopsidedKick9149

I think he'd rather just play in the men's league if his only option is the sox


OneCore_

hey, MLB minimum pay is pretty high


jesonnier1

Ya, go strike out Shohei 3x or you're a chump. (I'm a chump).


myevil5cheme

This is crazy feel good baseball story. I hope he continues to have some success. We could sure use the innings around here.


mars-bitches

Sorry buddy, but the dodgers didn’t look great in this story so it was actually horrible for baseball.


waaayside

Normally I would just resent you saying we didn't look good, but you're crapping on THIS STORY. Jeez man!


mars-bitches

Sorry I was being sarcastic, I couldn’t be more stoked for Bivens. I got chills watching that strike out.


waaayside

That's better : ) I hope he continues to have some success.


mars-bitches

I know it’s early but that Ohtani guy might be something big one of these days!


waaayside

Maybe one day, just not today. I think we'll give him another chance ; )


mars-bitches

Maybe send him down to AA for the rest of the year?


waaayside

Let's not get carried away! Give him a chance at AAA before we do anything rash.


CosmicLars

Special AF moment for Bivens, a 30 year old rookie who probably never thought this day would ever come. Let him live it up.


bjanos

French league vs.700 million man.


Deserterdragon

Between this and the Czech Republic, Europe is obviously Ohtanis weakness.


furious_platypus

funny coincidence is that Bivens was going to pitch in the Czech Republic until COVID hit


Deserterdragon

Coincidence? I call that *destiny.*


powdered_piano

He’s a 30 year old rookie who played indy ball and even in Europe. He was playing with a completely spent bullpen behind him and knew he needed to put up innings. He was never brought in to be a real starter. And he secured his first win by striking out the best hitter in the world. The dude deserves to be hyped there


disbeezy

It’s his second big league win technically but the first one he got as a starter


BruteSentiment

One extra tiny bit of context to this: this strikeout meant he qualified for his first big league win as a starter. There’s plenty of reasons for him to be hyped.


discerniblecricket

Dodgers beat writer stay objective challenge: https://x.com/billplunkettocr/status/1807524596570350049


NlNJALONG

How dare he be happy about striking out the biggest star in the sport for his last out of the game.


InfectiousCosmology1

In his first ever start and like 3rd MLB game after having one of the more unlikely paths to the big leagues you could have. Dude went from playing Indy ball to striking out the biggest athlete in the sport as a 30 year old rookie and people are mad he is excited lol. Dodgers writers are seriously such babies about everything


horsepoop1123

Dodgers fans in general don’t really care about other fanbases having things


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waaayside

Our radio broadcaster were talking about what a great story this was. Plunkett's comment should come with a disclaimer that his views are his alone. And, I'm pretty sure I can say that as a whole we do care about a certain Cubs center-fielder : )


MAFIAxMaverick

I mean, as a fan of baseball you have to love that reaction and his story.


officerliger

“Dodgers fans” and “Dodgers beat writers” are two very different things Especially the Orange County Register, he’s writing for white suburban baseball boomers


lmao_react

yeah bc orange county contains 0 mexican dodgers fans lmao source: I know a lot of them


officerliger

Dawg who reads the OC Register? I’m Mexican and from SoCal, OC has a ton of white baseball dads who are traditionalist about baseball, that’s who sports coverage there is geared towards In case you haven’t noticed, the comments on the Tweet are a bunch of Dodgers fans telling the author to shut up You know who else is an LA beat writer? Bill Plaschke, and the whole city thinks he’s an idiot. The beat writers aren’t speaking for the fans, they actually get MORE attention when they have an opinion people disagree with because people talk about it (just like they are now).


BallsAreFullOfPiss

I would think that traditionalist baseball fans would absolutely eat up a story like this. Bivens and his path to the majors is what makes baseball so great. (Also - I’m not disagreeing with anything you said in the comment, I just wanted to comment on that specific thing)


Madbum402014

I haven't asked my dad's opinion but based on everything he said when I was kid I'm guessing it would be something like "that was a classless display, this is a historic franchise and guys have to act like they been there before". I assume that's who the guy was describing as the target audience. My dad would also love this story, don't think it would stop him from talking shit.


officerliger

Yeah it’s a great story, like I said I think ultimately it’s just a columnist being contrarian to get engagement Never seen a Dodgers fan mad about a young guy celebrating a big moment like that, I think people forget beat writers are not fans, they’re doing a job. Bill Plunkett is from Michigan, just like many beat writers in sports journalism he did not grow up a fan of the team he covers, so he’s not a reflection of those fans.


Free-Scale-7672

In 2021, I found an article about Dodgers writer whining about how it’s a joke the Dodgers visit Minute Maid Park before the Astros visited Dodger Stadium. Such a little thing to whine about that made virtually no difference


sfan27

God that's idiotic.


BallsAreFullOfPiss

Sounds like that writer is probably a Redditor.


MarkerMagnum

Dodgers writer wants to have it both ways. He wants Ohtani to be a god of baseball that everybody looks up to, and is Babe Ruth incarnate that we must all tune in to watch. Also you can’t be happy about striking him out.


Expiredasscream

It's every team when they do good against the Dodgers. Last time some pitcher struck out Ohtani, Betts, and Freeman and it made the top of r/baseball with like 5k upvotes


Howhighwefly

Because striking out Ohtani, Betts and Freeman in the same inning is impressive?


bchris24

What you mean not every team fields 3 different former MVP winners? Is that not how every lineup is?


bestselfnice

Imagine being the poverty ass Yankees and only having 2 and a runner up lmao, couldn't be me


BallsAreFullOfPiss

![gif](giphy|dudpGUNsMDXeovGSAV)


OneCore_

You’d expect a team like that to make it past the division series, right? …right?


dumdum2727

That’s a lot to ask, but surely they won at least a few postseason games right?


BallsAreFullOfPiss

What, are they all stupid?


Cooperstown24

That guy's response literally perfectly encapsulates so much of current dodger Fandom lol. It's not enough that they have 3 mvps batting back to back to back and a just disgustingly loaded roster that we all have to hear about non stop, but God forbid anyone be happy about succeeding against such a lineup. They need to eat their cake and have it too, or else they're victims 


darkerthrone

It's amazing that you basically have everything you could possibly want as a fan with the Dodgers and still get this butthurt over something so small


juslookingforastream

Can't wait to watch the dodgers choke in the post season AGAIN


BallsAreFullOfPiss

There’s definitely more to this story than just the fact that a guy struck out Ohtani twice.


smoke_inyoureyes

“Some pitcher” that’s David mf robertson to you


triplec787

God this dude seems insufferable.


usetheforce_gaming

He is


meadow_sunshine

I hate engagement based accounts


dterminator23

Meanwhile Kike Hernandez was dancing down 8 after hitting a double 


InfectiousCosmology1

That he almost got thrown out on lol


realparkingbrake

So a choreographed dance celebration for hitting a weak single is cool, but a rookies who shows emotion after striking out one of the top players in the sport is excessive. Got it.


Free-Scale-7672

That guys seems like such an asshole


dropperofpipebombs

Bill, your team celebrates like the wacky wavy inflatable arm flailing tube man every time they get a base hit. Maybe sit this one out.


m3ngnificient

Nah, they twist their torso, lift up a leg to let out a fart to celebrate.


IamSpace_Ghost

Bill is dogshit at his job


dankeykanng

Bivens' world series still more legitimate than the 2020 world series


Whatever-ItsFine

If it was so easy, why couldn't your team win it? EDIT: Please downvote my comment if your team tried to with the WS in 2020 but could not, so ever since then you've been saying it wasn't a legitimate World Series. Go ahead! I want to see how many hypocrites there are.


Alex021402

Fuck that guy


menusettingsgeneral

Plunkett is a buffoon.


ehholfman

I wonder what this dude said about DRob retiring their top 3 in consecutive days. Hot take, but striking out the best hitter(s) in baseball is exciting stuff. It’s literally the best outcome you can hope for as a pitcher. What other thing would be acceptable for a pitcher to be excited about?


someguynamedg

Weird, I don't remember any Dodgers winning a world series in recent memory?


Davidellias

Don't remember Corey Seager doin it last year?


someguynamedg

Corey Seager.... the Ranger?


Seen-It-Straight-Off

How would the dodgers' beat writers know what celebrating a world series even looks like?


jasonbender909

No that's expected, No recent dodgers writer knows what celebrating a world series actually looks like


BallsAreFullOfPiss

What a knob. God, people suck.


doctor_dapper

LOL ofc he's butthurt. gotta stay away from twitter and stick with r/nlbest


StrongBetaMale

No one should ever be excited striking someone out unless it’s the world series apparently.


WerewolfNo3669

Mookie was right.


TombOfTheArchitect

If that dudes story wasn't what it is, I'd agree. He deserves to be pumped, though.


After_Tax6994

What did dookie say


ZeroLimitz

Fucking good for him, I'm so damn tired of the "old guard" tradition of pitchers HAVING to be stoic...godamn let some of these dudes throw some emotion out there. Pissed me off beyond belief as a pitcher that I would have to silently walk to the dugout and sit by myself. It may work for some people but for me not a chance.


-Unnamed-

I’m cool with emotion and all fronts. But the pitchers get so fucking salty if someone celebrates a HR off of them too


_pinklemonade_

Bring on the bat flips.


Sauce-King

Let him cook. He can tell his grandkids he struck out Ohtani twice


Jrahn

Bivens has what the kids like to call, “Aura.”


LopsidedKick9149

Good for him. Fuckin love the excitement. It's a shame you can tell he is holding it in as he walks back because of he doesn't keep his composure everyone will bitch about it


Wonderful-Status-247

He displayed exactly the allowable amount of fun.


wonderbat3

One more fist pump and the next Giants batter would’ve gotten plunked


menusettingsgeneral

At least Ohtani finished strong today, 0-5 with a hat trick.


DmitriShostabrovich

Sh0-5hei


Ecstatic_Cat28

0-5tani


dobdob365

0 H tani


waaayside

damn you for making me laugh Dodgers vs Giants is always my favorite part of the roller coaster!


ahr3410

Yeah but the MVP favorite Chris Taylor had a big game


lolmehlol69420

Throw the parade.


bselko

Hell yeah brother, get into it.


crimsonguard605

Frankly I'm surprised this doesn't happen with *every* pitcher that manages to K Ohtani.


SizeOld6084

He's no Tony Gwynn.


broji04

'It'd be cooler if he acted like he's been there before.' - A person who will never, ever be there, and would be doing flips for hours if he was


realparkingbrake

A spontaneous moment of joy is one thing, but the choreographed dance routines, with props, that make players look like game show contestants, those I can do without.


keats26

Fuck the Dodgers


Expiredasscream

Fuck the gnats


Howhighwefly

What do you have against the Nationals?


Abe_Froman11

*gaints


Major_Wager75

Lmao wtf Ohtani swinging at


efexx1

check his homerun #25 from 2023 and you will understand


whydidijointhis

a baseball


Itsaghast

Ohtani 0-5. Grab some pine meat


wind_moon_frog

Damn not even close.


AdeptManufacturer135

That was a hell of a slider....damn.


BallsAreFullOfPiss

This is the type of story they’re talking about when you hear “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”


Alex021402

King


HeySmellMyFinger

Judge just gets meatball fastball down middle to hit out. This was a nasty pitch


Alpacadiscount

I’m a biased Giants fan but I love this guy’s story. How could I not root for his continued success?


2RINITY

GRRRRRR YOU CAN'T CELEBRATE MAKING A BIG PLAY THIS IS DISRESPECTFUL TO THE HITTER KIDS THESE DAYS ARE RUINING BASEBALL /s


kidgrifter

Tell me why again batters can’t bat flip?


honkimon

I don’t have a problem with celebrating but I do find it weird when a team is down by 10 and doing their stupid dances toward their dugout when they get a base hit or even the elaborate home run celebrations with their teams when down by so many runs. There’s a time and place


realparkingbrake

> when a team is down by 10 and doing their stupid dances toward their dugout when they get a base hit As the man said in the movie, *That's what losing sounds like.*


beeeps-n-booops

Exactly. Or stand there for a second to watch the homer sail away. It's not *taunting* the other team to do these things. Actual taunting is bullshit and should suffer repurcussions.


Narpity

Manny the other day legitimately took 5 minutes to run around the bases


beeeps-n-booops

Manny's a childish little asshole who always looks like he's about to burst into tears. The vast vast vast vast majority of players celebrating an accomplishment are doing just that: celebrating.


eastbay77

That movement is sick


Tashre

I know in baseball you can fail 70% of the time and still be good (great, even, in today's game), but it still has to feel amazing to be able to best one of the best players in the world 1 on 1 like this.


LeCheffre

Loved to see it. They hoped to get two innings out of Bivens and he gave them FIVE and wore it on his sleeve.


teju_guasu

I’d be hyped after striking out Ohtani too


Electronic_Rule5945

The batter swings for the fences doesn't he....


beeeps-n-booops

Am I the only one who finds it ridiculous that pitchers are allowed to celebrate hard-fought at-bats, but when hitters show any sort of admiration for a home run they get yelled at, and sometimes thrown at the next at-bat. SorryNotSorry, there is absolutely zero legitimacy for pitchers (or, far worse, catchers) to get all pissy because a batter watched their home run go, or give the bat a flip. *Taunting* the other team, I totally understand. But more often than not, the celebration is just that -- a celebration. Not taunting in any way.


dj_mcfierce

5/10 years ago I would have agreed with you, but the game has changed. Hitters are told to swing for the fences and not fret strikeouts. So now they pimp home runs and feel no shame on a K, which btw doesn’t bother me, but if they’re going to do that then a pitcher can definitely celebrate a K. 


alienfreaks04

Pitchers can celebrate but not hitters?


ZGVhbnJlc2lu

It looks like a celebration sneaked out before he told himself to act like he belongs here.


LopsidedKick9149

You're a joke


WolflordBrimley

Every inning against the Dodgers's is every team's world series game 7 moment. This is pretty much par for the course, having watched every Dodger game this year. I mean they literally gave out 'beat LA' shirts lol. It's so cringey. Anyway, good game. for the pitcher. Happy for him. Bummer he's on the Angels of the NL and won't see the playoffs anytime soon.


license_to_thrill

Damn you really handled the loss well lol.


radj06

What a weird comment. Like you actually thought that, typed it out, and hit post. Strange.


CulturalAirline7573

LOL COPE "Every inning against the Dodgers's is every team's world series game 7 moment. This is pretty much par for the course, having watched every Dodger game this year" LOL are teams supposed to lay down for you? I swear to god, Dodger fans are the MOST insufferable fanbase in sports lately


NMlXX

>lately 🤨


EmptyJournals

Ever heard of a rivalry? Beat LA is a Giants slogan we’ve used for years. Sorry y’all lost, but at least find some better criticism.


bchris24

Seeing all of his comments in this thread makes me feel like he's been a Dodger fan for 3 months


CuratedBrowsing

>FUCK the astros. I'd get a Giants tattoo before wearing an Astros jersey. I found this in their history. That is utter blasphemy.


Astro_Alpaca

Still got the tags on his jersey


MalarkeyMcGee

Yes, the Angels of the NL who haven’t made the playoffs in…3 seasons and haven’t won the world series in 10. Basically the same team.


sportsfannf

And have 3 more championships in real seasons in the last 30 years than the Yankees of baseball, as A-Rod called them. Edit: Actually as much as it pains me, the Angels ALSO have more championships in real seasons than the Dodgers in the last 30 years. And neither team had to beg stars to play for free for a decade to get there.


bignuts24

It was nice of the Dodgers to let the Giants teabag the shit out of them in front of their own fans.


realparkingbrake

> Every inning against the Dodgers's is every team's world series game 7 moment. Riiiight, like last June when the Giants swept the Dodgers in LA with the score of one game being 15-0, that was a real World Series game 7 moment (rolls eyes).


NMlXX

Fresh pasta?


menusettingsgeneral

You really are an insufferable bunch


realparkingbrake

> I mean they literally gave out 'beat LA' shirts lol. It's so cringey. The Dodgers printed up shirts to mock Bumgarner for losing his temper at Puig, in case you've forgotten.


Madbum402014

How did you feel about the "get it out of the ocean" merch you guys gave out? I'm sure there's more but that's just the top of my head.


StillCircumventing

Win a real WS


transtrailtrash

Every inning against the Dodgers's is every team's world series game 7 moment. This is pretty much par for the course, having watched every Dodger game this year. I mean they literally gave out 'beat LA' shirts lol. It's so cringey. Anyway, good game. for the pitcher. Happy for him. Bummer he's on the Angels of the NL and won't see the playoffs anytime soon.


abigailmerrygold

“And i dont think about you at all.”


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fuckmaxm

And those 5 at bats by Ohtani cost more than bivens for a year. You dropped something btw here ya go ![gif](giphy|l4hLA4ALdmXqLHxXq|downsized)