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Home » World Series 2024: After seven years in MLB, Shohei Ohtani finally reaches baseball’s biggest stage
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World Series 2024: After seven years in MLB, Shohei Ohtani finally reaches baseball’s biggest stage

Paul E.By Paul E.October 22, 2024No Comments7 Mins Read
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In the first six seasons of Shohei Ohtani’s major league career, the only month we didn’t talk about him was October. Throughout the spring and summer, no matter where his team was in the standings, Ohtani’s regular, historic feats on the field drew attention and inspired awe throughout the league. But in the end, the Angels are mathematically eliminated, and our focus shifts to the teams still competing for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

As soon as the World Series ends each year, its importance resurfaces during awards season, where Ohtani has won numerous honors each year, and how the most talented player on the planet has yet to be seen on baseball’s biggest stage. A debate arose as to whether or not there was one. “How wonderful would that be?” we thought, imagining Ohtani in the postseason. “Maybe, hopefully someday.”

The collective curiosity about what it would be like to see Ohtani play in a meaningful game was further amplified by his stellar performance at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. A tournament that began with a spectacular billiards performance in his native Japan ended with a strikeout by then-Angels teammate Mike Trout in Miami, as Samurai Japan defeated star-studded Team USA to clinch the championship. Although it happened in March, not October, it was immediately clear that Ohtani’s incredible sweeper to strike out Trout was a highlight that would be replayed for years to come and will last for generations. Ta.

Still, we wanted more. And in a brief period during his final season in Anaheim (the Angels were 56-51 as of late July 2023 and were an active buyer at the trade deadline), Ohtani finally made it to the MLB postseason. It seemed plausible that it might be reached. Then, the Angels collapsed catastrophically in the final stages, and it was confirmed that Ohtani’s sixth and final season in Anaheim would be a losing one.

So Ohtani became a free agent nearly a year ago, looking for his first winning season in MLB, let alone a trip to the playoffs. His time on the open market had its fair share of drama, but in the end, as most expected, he was traded to the Dodgers for a record amount of money. It wasn’t just that LA had the most money and was playing not far from where Ohtani already lived. This was also the team that had advanced to the postseason for 11 consecutive years. From the moment Ohtani pulled the new string at his inaugural press conference, it was virtually guaranteed that we would see him in the postseason the following fall, a certainty that no other team could have.

But what wasn’t certain was what would happen if Ohtani and the Dodgers actually arrived in October. Of the team’s 11 consecutive playoff appearances, only three have qualified for the World Series, with the Dodgers being eliminated in the first round the past two years. No matter how aggressively the organization recruited talent, the brutal parity of the postseason always meant that the Dodgers’ championship aspirations were derailed sooner than expected.

After recent near misses, the Dodgers enter 2024 hoping Ohtani can be the catalyst for more playoff success.

It was clear early on in his pro career that Ohtani was not only comfortable playing in high-stakes situations, but also able to thrive in them. The World Baseball Classic may have been the first glimpse of the dynamic American, but it certainly wasn’t the first time Ohtani played in a high-pressure game.

Before arriving in MLB, Ohtani became a unique sensation playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, the second-best league in the world and one with significant historical and cultural relevance to baseball-obsessed Japan. The pinnacle of Ohtani’s NPB career came in 2016, when he put together his first full season as a two-way player, winning league MVP honors and leading the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to the Japan Series championship. That included Ohtani’s walk-off single in Game 3 of the No. 7 series against Hiroshima, which sparked a comeback for the Fighters after dropping the first two games of the series.

So it was no surprise that Ohtani made an immediate impact when he made his MLB postseason debut with the Dodgers. In his second at-bat of Game 1 of the NLDS against San Diego, Ohtani hit a game-tying, three-run homer over the right-field fence, injecting energy into the Dodgers’ dugout and crowd after an early deficit. The rest of the series against the Padres was relatively quiet, but Ohtani turned up the heat again against the Mets in the National League CS, reaching base a whopping 16 times in six games (a franchise record), and hitting the bases despite his lack of physical strength. It exhausted New York’s pitching staff. LA’s overwhelming attack cannot be stopped.

The importance increases with each match, and Ohtani continues to raise the bar. Through 11 games in October, he is slashing .286/.434/.500. His performance with runners in scoring position is unreal. Ohtani went 6-for-9 at bat in October of this year, and has 18 hits in his past 23 at-bats through mid-September, with an astonishing 28 RBIs in that time.

The next team for Ohtani and the Dodgers is the Yankees. The Yankees are the only team in baseball that features as much star power as Los Angeles, if not more. One of the stars of those opponents was Juan Soto, who also played a big role in the team’s push to the postseason and into the postseason in his first year with the club. . Soto’s trade with the Yankees and Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers, both of which occurred in one week in December, were the defining trades of last offseason, and one of the two most industry-shaking upsets in recent memory. It became.

However, at the time, the atmosphere surrounding each movement was different.

For the Yankees, who are coming off their worst season in nearly 30 years, sending a player to San Diego to acquire Soto, who has one year left on his contract, is a sign of their return as one of the league’s powerhouse teams after an unusually poor season. It was an emergency operation aimed at re-establishing its position. In that case, it felt like the Yankees needed Soto more than they needed Soto.

Conversely, the Dodgers’ addition of Ohtani to a roster that already boasts multiple MVPs felt more like the ultimate luxury baseball flex than something the team desperately needed. The Dodgers were offering Ohtani the opportunity to play in winning situations for the first time as a major leaguer, but the Dodgers were favorites without him.

As it turns out, the Dodgers needed Ohtani more than we ever imagined. When Mookie Betts missed two months with a broken hand, Ohtani slid into the leadoff spot and took his game to a whole new level, sparking unprecedented power-speed production and resulting in his first 50 HR/50 SB season. Ta. In addition, a series of injuries disrupted the pitching staff, which was thought to be full of strength, and added to the pressure on Ohtani’s offensive line to outplay his opponents for long periods of time. The two-time MVP was everywhere, playing his best ball in September and helping the Dodgers defeat San Diego to regain the National League West title.

And he became the driving force behind this World Series appearance, with the Dodgers providing the stage and supporting cast that Ohtani was looking for. It took him seven years to finally get to this point, but he and the Dodgers are now four wins away from his ultimate goal.

Even considering the length of his contract, there’s no guarantee how many more times Ohtani will reach this point. That’s all the more reason to appreciate how quickly this game happened and to relish in the scene before us now: Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers vs. the New York Yankees in the World Series.



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