How Shohei Ohtani “finally” reached the World Series with the Dodgers

From a corner of the clubhouse, Dodgers owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly smiled as they watched the chaos unfold in the room.

In front of them, Shohei Ohtani closed his eyes as manager Dave Roberts poured a beer over his head. Soon, Ohtani and Roberts were jumping up and down together on the alcohol-soaked carpet, with Roberts now throwing his head back and Ohtani pouring Budweiser into his open mouth.

While holding his own beer, Walter said of Ohtani, “I’m so glad we were able to take him from being in the playoffs to the World Series.”

With a 10-5 victory over New York’s other team in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers advanced to the World Series to play the New York Yankees.

Ohtani will play in a World Series.

“Finally,” Ohtani said in Japanese.

Walter thought back to his team’s winter negotiations with Ohtani, who was a free agent after six seasons with the downtrodden Angels. Walter was thinking about this when Ohtani suggested the team pay him just $2 million per season and defer the rest of his $70 million annual salary.

“That’s what Shohei did to make sure we could put the best team around him on the field,” Walter said. “I felt like we owed it to him to do our best and get him there.”

Ohtani will receive $20 million over the ten-year term of the contract. He will receive the other $680 million over the next decade.

“He wants to be the greatest baseball player in the history of the world,” Boehly said. “How do you do that? They win the World Series. And how do you win the World Series? They help to find out how we can make the club even better. He made the club even better with this decision.”

Ohtani essentially handed the Dodgers a blank check to bolster their roster. The Dodgers have made some questionable investments, most notably in injury-prone Tyler Glasnow, who was shut down before the postseason. But they also made some more favorable signings that helped Ohtani reach the stage he had wanted to play on since he was a child in the northern part of mainland Japan.

The Dodgers signed outfielder Teoscar Hernández, who has driven in eight runs in these playoffs. They signed Ryan Brasier, who became a key member of their trusted bullpen. At the trade deadline, they were able to absorb the salaries of Jack Flaherty, Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman. Flaherty became their most trusted starter and Kopech their most reliable reliever. Edman drove in 11 runs in the NLCS and was the series’ most valuable player.

“I was hoping this would happen,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani wasn’t just there. He batted .364 in the NLCS. He hit a home run in two of his team’s wins. He drew nine walks and was on base in more than half of his plate appearances. He drove in six runs and scored nine more.

For Game 6, he changed his walk-up song from “Show Goes On” by Lupe Fiasco to “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé. Bublé’s song was featured in a popular Japanese film.

When asked what inspired the change in music, Ohtani replied: “Nothing in particular. I chose it because the feeling was good.”

The Dodgers were down a run when Ohtani entered the batter’s box for the first time. On the mound was Mets left-hander Sean Manaea, against whom Ohtani was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in a Game 2 loss.

Ohtani hit a single up the middle and reached third base on a hit by Teoscar Hernández. Ohtani and Hernández scored on a double off Edman to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Ohtani drove in a run with a single to center against right-hander Ryne Stanek in the sixth inning, extending his team’s lead to 7-3. He is batting .667 (six for nine) in the postseason with runners in scoring position.

He drew a walk and scored three runs in the Dodgers’ eighth inning, putting the game out of the Mets’ reach.

His reward was another alcoholic locker room celebration – or, as the Japanese call it, a champagne fight.

“I think it’s a really good thing no matter how many times I do it,” Ohtani said. “I would like to end the year with that again.”

His next opponent will be the New York Yankees, for whom one of his childhood heroes played. Ohtani was in middle school when Hideki Matsui was the MVP of the 2009 World Series.

“I watched the highlights several times,” Ohtani said.

Now it will be Ohtani’s turn, playing in the championship series of the most competitive baseball league in the world. His blank check is about to be cashed.