The Toronto Blue Jays made a strong play to sign Shohei Ohtani before he ultimately joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on a historic 10-year, $700 million contract ahead of the 2024 season.
With the teams playing each other in the 2025 World Series, Ohtani’s free agency decision has again become a topic of focus. Blue Jays fans showered the two-way star with “we don’t need him” chants during his final at-bat in Game 1 at Rogers Centre.
Ohtani took it all in stride and revealed that his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, has jokingly started to use the chant.
“My wife loves that chant, and she teased me,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “I want to do enough around the house so that I won’t be subjected to the kinds of chants I received in Toronto.”
While Blue Jays fans are understandably frustrated that Ohtani snubbed them, they can take solace in the fact that their favorite team has a bright future.
Toronto extended homegrown star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. before the 2025 season and they are now three wins away from winning their first World Series since 1993.
As for Ohtani, he very clearly made the right choice by signing with the Dodgers. The 31-year-old has put up historic numbers since joining L.A. and is trying to help them become baseball’s first repeat champion in a quarter century.
Ohtani should get a much warmer reception with the Fall Classic now at Dodger Stadium for Games 3, 4 and 5. Ohtani is scheduled to start as a pitcher in Game 4.
John Schneider reacts to Shohei Ohtani chant
Blue Jays manager John Schneider praised fans in Canada for their unwavering support of the team while noting that Ohtani is too good of a player to heckle.
“I just wanted to get the third out,” Schneider said of the chant. “I love energetic fanbases. It happens in different ways and shapes and forms in every stadium. We saw it just the last series in Seattle.
“Kind of heard it, but it’s tough to talk about a player like that, to be honest with you. He’s special. I’m glad that the home run that he hit came when it came and we had a little cushion. But I love that our fans are passionate about our team.”
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