Ohtani’s Baby Boom, Kim’s Birthday Celebration, and World Cup Updates
By James Moreau | 22 Jun, 2026

South Korea is handed a tough loss while Japan puts on a dominant World Cup performance. Ohtani's return from paternity leave is punctuated by a home run, and Tom Kim earns a top-3 major finish on his birthday.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

Shohei Ohtani personified that phrase after stepping away from the team to welcome his second child with his wife Mamiko.  Apropos to his return on Father’s Day weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar wasted no time delivering a dramatic solo home run – his 16th of the season.  This helped push his OPS to .969, sixth best in the league, and his batting average to .297, 12th best.  Ohtani’s standout season keeps him firmly in line to compete for the NL MVP once again.

Korean star golfer Tom Kim celebrated his 24th birthday by delivering the finest U.S. Open performance of his young career.  Carding a gritty final-round 70 at Shinnecock Hills, Kim finished alone in third place at one-under par – just three strokes behind wire-to-wire champion Wyndham Clark.  The milestone earned him $1.5M and marked Kim’s third career top-10 at a major championship.

In World Cup action, South Korea is reeling from a heartbreaking defeat against Mexico, following a costly misplay from the Korean goalkeeper.  Despite a furious late-game push to score the equalizer, South Korea’s hopes were crushed in the 87th minute when Mexico’s goalie pulled off a remarkable, acrobatic save to preserve the lead and seal the result.  The Reds will face South Africa on Wednesday where a win would ensure they advance.

The mood was drastically different in Group F, where Japan put on a historic masterclass during the 1,000th match in World Cup tournament history.  They demolished Tunisia 4-0 to become the first Asian nation to ever score four goals in a single World Cup fixture.  Daichi Kamada ignited the rout in just the fourth minute – the fastest goal in Japan’s World Cup history – before Ayase Ueda and Junya Ito combined for three more goals to complete the dominant showing.  Japan now sits level with the Netherlands atop the group, needing only a draw against Sweden on Thursday to advance.