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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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For Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, the first six years of his career were marked by some of the highest individual highs the sport of baseball has ever seen — and some of the lowest lows on the level of team success.
The Los Angeles Angels have failed to qualify for the postseason since 2014 despite employing Ohtani from 2018-23 and pairing him with star center fielder Mike Trout.
For Ohtani, the month of September has proven cathartic.
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On Sept. 19 in Miami, Ohtani had one of the best individual games in major league history: 6-for-6 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, two stolen bases, and nearly a cycle (he was thrown out at third base trying to stretch a double into a triple). The game clinched Ohtani as the first known player to steal 50 bases and hit 50 home runs in a season. It also clinched a postseason berth for the Dodgers.
Los Angeles wasn't finished. Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, they clinched their 11th National League West title in the last 12 years by beating the San Diego Padres 7-2. And Ohtani was once again at the center of it all — during and after the game.
With the game tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, Ohtani's single into right field drove in the go-ahead run for the Dodgers.
Ohtani would then score when the next batter, Mookie Betts, followed with a single of his own.
If there was any doubt about how much the occasion of clinching the division meant to Ohtani, it was evident from the moment the game ended.
After the Dodgers gathered for group pictures on the field, Ohtani scooped up his beloved dog, Decoy, and hugged his wife, Mamiko, in a touching celebration.
Back in the clubhouse with his teammates, Ohtani was among few players who chose to forego protective goggles as champagne flew, threatening to sting every eyeball it touched.
Speaking to reporters afterward through interpreter Will Ireton, Ohtani said "It stung a little bit in my eyes but hopefully it wouldn't cause too much damage."
The moment wasn't just seven years in the making, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
"This is something that I know Shohei's dreamed about ever since he was a young kid," Roberts said of Ohtani. "Now he's living it, right now in real time. He's put on a show in the last couple weeks. What a year he's having. We're going to ride that horse, that thoroughbred to the championship."
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