by Mark Langill
When Shohei Ohtani joined the exclusive list of 12 players to hit three home runs in a postseason game in Major League history, he also became the third Dodger to do it.
The Los Angeles trio of Ohtani, Kiké Hernández (2017) and former Dodger Chris Taylor (2021) also represent the last three MLB players to accomplish the feat.
Hernández’s postseason resume was one of the reasons the Dodgers brought him back as a free agent for the 2025 season. During Spring Training, manager Dave Roberts seemed to have a crystal ball when explaining why the Dodgers brought back the veteran.
“We’re in Los Angeles. Some of the greatest athletes of all time (played here). And those great ones aren’t afraid to fail,” Roberts said in February. “And Kiké, when you talk about postseason in whatever sport, you can’t be afraid to fail. And this guy always rises to the occasion.”
So does Ohtani, whose three home runs in Friday’s 5–1 victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series will never be forgotten because of the unique circumstances.
The two-way player registered 10 strikeouts in six scoreless innings as a pitcher. His second home run also cleared the Dodger Stadium Right Field Pavilion roof.
All during a pennant-clinching game.
Hernández’s three home runs in Game 5 of the Dodgers’ 11–1 victory over the Cubs in Game 5 of the NLCS at Wrigley Field sent Los Angeles to its first World Series since 1988. It was also Hernández’s first multi-homer postseason game in his career.
The Dodgers eventually lost to Houston in the 2017 World Series in seven games.
When Taylor hit three home runs in Game 5 of the 2021 NLCS against Atlanta during an 11–2 victory at Dodger Stadium, he became the first player to hit three home runs in a potential elimination game. But the Braves eventually won the series in six games.
The rest of the names on the MLB postseason list of three home runs in a game also fall into two categories: crowns and near misses.
Babe Ruth, most compared to Ohtani because of the power and pitching combination, twice hit three home runs in a World Series game with the Yankees in 1926 and 1928, both against the St. Louis Cardinals. Of the 12 players on the list, Ruth is the only one with a pair of three-home-run games in the postseason.
But Ruth was better known in the 1926 Fall Classic for attempting to steal second base with two outs in the ninth inning of Game 7 at Yankee Stadium with New York trailing 3–2. St. Louis catcher Bob O’Farrell threw to second baseman Rogers Hornsby, who easily tagged out Ruth and the series was suddenly over with Bob Meusel standing at the plate.
Ruth could better savor his three home runs in the 1928 World Series when the Yankees won in a four-game sweep.
The next three home run game in a World Series occurred against the Dodgers by a Yankee slugger who became known as “Mr. October.”
Reggie Jackson’s three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium clinched New York’s first championship since 1962.
Former Dodger reliever Charlie Hough, who gave up Jackson’s third home run on a towering shot to center field, watched on television as Ohtani made his own unique history on Friday.
“If you compare the two events, I think Ohtani tops the 1977 World Series because Reggie didn’t strike out 10 batters as a pitcher,” said Hough, a Dodger Minor League pitching instructor who spent 25 seasons in the Majors. “Ohtani was struggling at the plate a bit. For him to put on that performance … that separates the good players and the ones that go out of their mind to be great.”
Hernández had a better view in the Dodger dugout as Ohtani broke out of offensive slump and won NLCS MVP honors. Like Hough, Hernández said only Ohtani could dominate on the pitcher’s mound and in the batter’s box.
“There’s only one person that can do that in the whole world in the history of this game and that’s him,” Hernández said. “He is who he is for a reason, and he showed out tonight.”
The Dodgers advance to the World Series hoping Ohtani’s NLCS milestone is part of second consecutive title.
In MLB history, the other three home run postseason games during a championship season include: Jose Altuve (2017 Astros — ALDS vs. Boston); Pablo Sandoval (2012 Giants — World Series vs. Detroit) Albert Pujols (2011 Cardinals — World Series at Texas); Adam Kennedy (2002 Angels — ALCS vs. Minnesota); and Bob Robertson (1971 Pirates — NLCS at San Francisco).
The “close but no cigar” footnotes in addition to Hernández and Taylor, are former Dodger Adrían Beltré (2011 Rangers — ALDS at Tampa Bay) and George Brett (1978 Royals — ALCS at New York).
2025 Postseason: Dodger power heroes three of a kind was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.