Czech electrician strikes out Shohei Ohtani; Angels star asks for his jersey

ByESPN Staff ESPN logo
Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Like many of his teammates on the Czech Republic's World Baseball Classic squad, Ondrej Satoria has a day job.

The right-handed pitcher works as a technician for an electrical company when he's not starting for his national team. You'd expect, then, that someone who plays baseball part time would be overmatched against a juggernaut like Japan.

Satoria, however, put up an admirable showing in his team's 10-2 loss on Saturday, giving up three runs in three innings and striking out four. One of those strikeouts was, incredibly, Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who went down on three pitches in the third inning.

Today, Ohtani and Satoria met again -- only this time, Ohtani asked Satoria for his jersey, signed by his Czech teammates.

Ohtani remains one of the coolest players in the game, and Satoria has a story he can tell for the rest of his life.