LOS ANGELES — It’s getting a little absurd, isn’t it?
This shouldn’t be humanly possible.
It’s like watching Barry Bonds in his prime, Reggie Jackson in October and Albert Pujols in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.
Shohei Ohtani is taking this World Series into his own hands, putting on a show that will never be forgotten.
Ohtani had the greatest World Series performance in Los Angeles Dodgers history Monday, hitting two home runs and two doubles, driving in three runs, scoring another three, reaching base a record nine times with four intentional walks, and then watching first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off homer in the 18th inning of the Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the World Series.
It was an instant classic, tied for longest game in World Series history at 18 innings.
Ohtani’s surreal performance has the Dodgers halfway to their second consecutive World Series championship.
They lead the Blue Jays 2 games to 1, with Ohtani on the mound for Game 4, playing the next two games at home, where they will attempt to clinch their first championship at Dodger Stadium since 1963.
The painful defeat taught the Blue Jays two lessons:
1. Do Not Pitch to Shohei Ohtani: And if you do, don’t throw meatballs down the middle of the plate like Blue Jays reliever Seranthony Dominguez did in the seventh inning.
2. Do Not Taunt Shohei Ohtani: If you do, well, you are going to pay the price.
It was the taunt that was heard ‘round the world on Friday night.
“We don’t need you! We don’t need you!’’
Ohtani’s wife thought it was hysterical. Blue Jays veteran pitcher Chris Bassitt was worried. Ohtani simply shrugged it off.
Maybe, next time, the Blue Jays’ fans will listen to Bassitt, who warned them:
“Don’t poke the bear.’
The Blue Jays fans, remember, were the ones laughing at Ohtani’s expense in Game 1 when they were routing the Dodgers 11-4, chanting to Ohtani in his last plate appearance:
“We don’t need you! We don’t need you!’
While Dodgers manager Dave Roberts claimed Ohtani didn’t understand the chant, his superstar acknowledged that he indeed heard it.
“I thought it was great,” Ohtani said. “My wife loves that chant so she teased me a little about it.”
Ohtani laughed, saying he hopes his wife doesn’t start saying the same chant at home.
Still, if the Blue Jays faithful though they were getting under Ohtani, guess again?
“I’m focused during my at-bats,’ Ohtani said, “so it doesn’t really bother me or anything like that.’
Apparently not.
Ohtani, who was hitting .224 this postseason in the Dodgers’ first 12 games (11-for-49) tormented the Blue Jays early and often, and was the only reason the Blue Jays didn’t win the game in regulation.
He hit a ground-rule double in his first at-bat.
He homered in the third inning.
He hit a run-scoring double off the center-field fence in the fifth inning.
He tied the game in the seventh inning with a homer.
He was intentionally walked in the eighth inning.
He was intentionally walked in the 11th inning.
He was intentionally walked in the 13th.
He was intentionally walked in the 15th.
He was walked on four pitches in the 17th.
He became the first player in World Series history to reach base nine times, and joined Frank Isbell of the 1906 Chicago White Sox as the only players in history to produce four extra-base hits in a World Series game.
Ohtani also became the first player in modern-day baseball history to produce 12 total bases in consecutive home games, with his three-homer performance in the Dodgers’ pennant-clincher against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I do feel better at the plate recently, so in that sense, it’s been good overall,” Ohtani said Sunday. “I do everything in my power to make sure that I’m prepared as much as possible and being at the plate with the right mentality. But you have to give some credit to the other side as well.”
Well, on this night, he flipped the script, and the Blue Jays had no choice but to give him credit, intentionally walking him three times.
It set the stage for the fourth walk-off homer in Dodgers’ World Series history, and a night no Dodger fan will ever forget.
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