Never thought I’d be here again. So much time has passed. So much self-importance has floated across my gaze. So much strutting, chest thumping, braying like a mule. So many games felt like an ego audition.

First pitch was set for 7 p.m. local time for Sunday's series finale between the Dodgers and Mets. But there was a much-anticipated show before the show, so to speak, more than four hours before the players took the field.

The Seattle Mariners are being led by a superstar player not named Julio Rodriguez. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is off to a phenomenal start to the 2025 season and he is already getting compared to an all-time great of the game.

Ohtani throws 22 pitches in live BP session at Citi Field, reaching 97 mph in a significant step in his return from Tommy John revision surgery in September 2023.

Shohei Ohtani threw 22 pitches across five simulated plate appearances at Citi Field ahead of his Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the New York Mets, facing hitters for the first time in almost two years.

Shohei Ohtani had quite a game on his bobblehead night. Two home runs, six runs. Then Jhonny Pereda struck out him out.

Despite this milestone moment, the path forward, for this singular force, remains murky. Asked what would happen next, pitching coach Mark Prior was vague.

There isn’t a global sports phenomenon quite like Shohei Ohtani right now, and baseball fans got a welcome sight on Sunday before Sunday Night Baseball—he was spotted on the mound ramping up his pitching after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023.