by Megan Garcia and Cary Osborne
Shohei Ohtani stood on a stage at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 14. At his introductory press conference, he declared the №1 reason he signed with the Dodgers.
“My contact is 10 years, and I’m not sure how long I’m gonna be able to play the game. So I do prioritize winning — that’s on top of my list and that will probably never change,” Ohtani said.
Ten months later, he’s on the biggest stage — the World Series. For the presumptive National League Most Valuable Player, after his unprecedented 50/50 season, it’s storybook that he is in this spot. Adding to it, his Dodgers are facing the Yankees with the presumptive American League MVP Aaron Judge leading the way. It’s the classic rivalry each represented by two of the most historic figures of this generation and beyond.
“You’ve got the best player in the game,” Judge said of Ohtani. “It’s going to be a fun matchup. We’ve all seen what he’s done all year — the 50/50 club — which has never been done. Just absolutely unheard of. I can sit here and talk about him all day. Just looking forward to seeing what he does, and it’s going to be a fun matchup.”
With the World Series finally front and center, Ohtani and Judge have both declared that they are doing what it takes to not make the moment too big.
“It’s hard to tell what kind of atmosphere is going to be like with all the people coming from all around the world,” Ohtani said. “But I’m really looking forward to being able to appreciate those moments and hopefully be able to perform at the best level.”
Said Judge: “You try and treat it like any other series, any other game especially a team like this. Every time we play at Dodger Stadium. It’s loud. Every time they come to play us at Yankee Stadium. It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be packed. You just try and treat it like that its another series. Just go out and take care of business.”
The Dodgers’ 2024 postseason run has been marked with many first for the 30-year-old Ohtani. The National League Division Series was Ohtani’s first taste of playoff baseball. He hit his first leadoff postseason homer in Game 4 against the Mets of the National League Championship Series.
When steps in the batter’s box against Yankee starter Gerrit Cole in the first inning on Friday, it will be his first career World Series appearance.
This has been an anticipated journey for Ohtani, and anyone who has been along for the ride. When he was a member of the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani observed the presumable ease the Dodgers possessed with their postseason berths.
But now wearing the Dodger blue, Ohtani has a new-found respect for his comrades.
“As a non-Dodger, kind of looking from the outside in, I’ve always felt like the Dodgers were able to easily make it to the postseason,” Ohtani said. “But I’ve really learned to appreciate what it took to make it to the postseason despite the injuries and it was truly a team effort.”
The postseason pressure hasn’t mounted for Ohtani. It’s been a litany of lessons, however, as he’s come to differentiate playoff baseball from the regular season.
He went 4-for-20 in the NLDS with one home run and four RBI. The breaking ball troubled him as five of his 10 strikeouts in the series came against the pitch. But in the NLCS, Ohtani made an adjustment to it. He hit three singles off the breaking ball.
Ohtani finished the series with two home runs among his eight hits in 22 at-bats. His six RBI were third amongst Dodger hitters in the series, trailing behind NLCS MVP Tommy Edman (11) and Mookie Betts (nine).
After two rounds of postseason baseball under his belt, Ohtani has studied and prepared for his next test — the New York Yankees.
“I’ve learned that it’s not that easy to be able to have the kind of at-bats that I want,” Ohtani said. “Regardless of the situation, just being able to have the same kind of at-bats that I do during the regular season as I do in the postseason is something that I’m carrying into the (World Series).”
World Series: Shohei Ohtani arrives at the place where he envisioned was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.