Ohtani: Historic show! Dodgers to the World Series with an epic performance

Mookie Betts Compares the Dodgers to the Chicago Bulls After Ohtani’s Demonstration

In Dodger Stadium, Mookie Betts, wearing a commemorative World Series cap and a radiant smile, made an apt comparison after the Dodgers swept the Brewers in the National League Championship Series. “It’s like we were the Chicago Bulls and he was Michael Jordan,” Betts declared, referring to Shohei Ohtani, who starred in a performance that many consider the greatest in baseball history. Ohtani dazzled with a historic performance. On the mound, he pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 batters. At the plate, he hit three home runs, one of them possibly leaving the park.

Following the 5-1 victory in Game 4 of the NLCS, which secured the second consecutive championship for the Dodgers, his teammates struggled to grasp the magnitude of what was witnessed. “It’s incredible,” commented Enrique Hernández about Ohtani, who was named NLCS MVP despite having little participation in the first three games.

“I can’t wait to be a little older and have my kids ask me, ‘What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen in baseball?’ I can’t wait to watch this game today. That’s the best individual performance in the history of baseball. I don’t care what anyone says. Obviously, I don’t know what happened a hundred years ago, but that’s the best performance I’ve seen in my life.”

Max Muncy

Ohtani arrived at Game 4 with a poor performance in his previous seven games, raising doubts about whether his role as a two-way player in the postseason was affecting his hitting. However, it was precisely this duality that freed him. The focus on pitching, according to Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates, “took his mind off hitting a bit.” Ohtani became the first player in Major League history to hit two home runs as a pitcher in a postseason game, let alone three, according to ESPN Research. He also hit more home runs than hits allowed (two), another first. Before him, no pitcher had hit a leadoff home run and no player had accumulated three home runs as a hitter and 10 strikeouts as a pitcher. Ohtani is the first player in Dodgers history to hit a home run as a pitcher in the postseason and the second to have a three-home run performance in a game that defines the LCS, joining Hernandez’s 2017 performance. The Dodgers, after their 2024 championship, reinforced their stellar roster with another impressive group in free agency. They began the following season with the expectation of challenging the MLB regular season wins record. A 23-10 start strengthened that belief. However, the Dodgers won only two more games than they lost in their next 110 games. Their rotation suffered, the bullpen was unstable, and their lineup inconsistent. Manager Dave Roberts called a team meeting in an effort to inject confidence in his players, and they responded by winning 15 of their last 20 regular season games. This continued into the playoffs. The Dodgers outlasted the Cincinnati Reds in the wild card round, defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in four games of the National League Division Series, and then completely stifled the Brewers, limiting them to four runs and 14 hits in 36 innings. Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Ohtani combined for a 0.63 ERA in the NLCS. In 10 playoff games, they have a combined record of 9-1 with a 1.40 ERA. Ohtani, with 12 days of rest, walked Brice Turang and then struck out Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich with consecutive 100 mph fastballs, an early sign for his teammates and coaches that he had brought his best game. Then, he struck out William Contreras. After walking toward the third base dugout, putting on his helmet, buckling his elbow and shin guards, and running to put on his batting gloves, Ohtani faced José Quintana. Working the full count, he hit a 446-foot home run. The Brewers didn’t record their first hit until Chourio hit a double in the fourth inning. Ohtani struck out Contreras, and Jake Bauers. Ohtani hit his second home run in the fourth inning, sending the ball 469 feet. Then he struck out four consecutive batters in the fifth and sixth innings. Ohtani left for the seventh inning, allowed the first two batters to reach base, and exited amid a standing ovation from a crowd of 52,883 people. “MVP” chants resonated as he returned to bat in the bottom of the seventh, and Ohtani responded with a 113.6 mph line drive that cleared the wall near center field, solidifying a masterful performance.

“That was probably the best postseason performance of all time. There have been many postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the best player on the planet.”

Dave Roberts

The 2025 Dodgers are the first team since the 2009 Phillies to return to the World Series a year after winning it, and Los Angeles is only the fifth to win nine of their first 10 postseason games, joining the 2014 Kansas City Royals, the 2005 Chicago White Sox, the 1999 New York Yankees, and the 1995 Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers are the only team to benefit from a performance like this. Since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893, 1,550 players have struck out 10 batters in a Major League game. In that same period, 503 players have had a three-home run performance.

Only one has done both things simultaneously. “There is only one person who can do that in the world, and in the history of this game, and that’s him,” Hernandez said about Ohtani. “He is who he is for a reason.”