After hitting a walk-off home run to win the game on his bobblehead distribution night on Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani made an intriguing gesture that has since become a Los Angeles Dodgers tradition.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ohtani was hitting for his Dodgers with one out and the score tied at five against the Atlanta Braves. To win the game 6-5, the Dodgers’ DH hit an opposite field shot that flew out.
As he approached home plate, Ohtani did a pinching motion with the thumb and index finger on his right hand and dragged it across his face. The celebration apparently was in response to some of his Dodgers teammates mocking him over the gesture he does in an advertisement for a skin care product from Decorte.
The only thing missing was Ohtani doing the wink.
But here’s the thing: this has caught on and become the Dodgers’ new celebration gesture. In the past, Dodgers players would wave their arms back and forth. They’ve since replaced that with the Ohtani Decorte face wipe.
The people at Decorte have to be loving this. The gesture Ohtani did in one of their commercials has now become the celebration for the Dodgers. You can’t buy that type of publicity.
