The Los Angeles Dodgers continue their road trip on Tuesday with the Angel Stadium portion of the Freeway Series, which will mark Shohei Ohtani’s first time playing in the ballpark during the regular season as a visiting player.
Ohtani spent the first six seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Angels, earning two unanimous American League MVP Awards, two Silver Sluggers, three All-Star selections and the Rookie of the Year crown in 2018.
Ohtani’s time with the organization came to an end when he joined the Dodgers on a record-setting 10-year, $700 million during the offseason.
Although it is no longer his home ballpark, Ohtani said he will always hold Angel Stadium close to his heart, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“For me it’s a special place,” Ohtani said through his interpreter after Monday’s game. “Obviously, I spent pretty much the most time there compared to other stadiums, and being able to spend the time playing in front of (Angels) fans.
“I spent a lot of time at Angel Stadium and obviously this year we already played against the team, so I’m just really looking forward to being able to spend some time at a ballpark that I spent most of my career at.”
Freeman noted that Ohtani was happy to return to Angel Stadium this past March and expects that he will be warmly received:
“I think he was really excited when we first played there in spring training,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who knows something about the emotions of facing your former team. “So we’ll see how it goes tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll do a little video tribute again, because he’s one of a kind.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Ohtani will be able to handle any emotions he might feel with being back at Angel Stadium:
“I don’t know. I was thinking about giving him an off day tomorrow. Would that go over okay?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts joked Monday.
“I’m sure it’s going to be somewhat emotional. But emotions are relative to the person. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine going back there and helping us win a ballgame. There hasn’t been anything that he’s had to deal with that he hasn’t passed with flying colors.”
The Dodgers and Angels split the Dodger Stadium portion of the Freeway Series from June 21-22, which represented Ohtani’s first time playing his former team in the regular season.
Ohtani said at the time that he was excited to face the Angels but thought the upcoming games at Angel Stadium would be more emotional.
Shohei Ohtani’s Angels career
Ohtani batted .274/.366/.556 with 129 doubles, 29 triples, 171 home runs and 437 RBI in 701 games as a member of the Angels. On the mound, he went 38-19, with a 3.01 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a .200 batting average allowed across 86 starts.
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