A reporter traveled from Pittsburgh to New York to see Shohei Ohtani play for just one inning

"I mean if I can’t laugh what am I even doing?"

Shohei Ohtani is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting baseball players to watch right now. Ohtani is the MLB’s current leader in home runs (28) as he continues to crush baseball after baseball en route to one of the most awe-inspiring seasons we’ve seen from a player of his caliber.

It’s no wonder that Adam Gretz, hockey writer for NBC Sports, wanted to take a trip to New York to see Ohtani play, as the Pittsburgh native wouldn’t have the opportunity to see him come through his city this year with the Los Angeles Angels. And why not? Ohtani had been on a roll recently and was surely set to pitch yet another dime or hit yet another home run.

Seriously contemplating traveling to a nearby city this season to go see Shohei Ohtani play in person since the Angels do not visit Pittsburgh.

— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) June 28, 2021

Instead, what followed was some of the most hilariously painful endings for a sports fan. On Wednesday against the New York Yankees, Ohtani pitched just one inning — 0.2 innings to be precise — allowing two hits, four walks, seven earned runs, and had 41 total pitches, touching the batter’s box only once before being pulled.

And yet, the Angels did win Wednesday night’s game 11-8 after Jared Walsh hit a game-tying grand slam in the ninth inning, but only after Gretz left due to a rain delay! Here are some of Gretz’s best tweets from his trip, which started strong but ended in the most sports way possible.