Why Shohei Ohtani playing World Series Game 3 was 'obvious thing to do'

Columnist

Oct. 29, 2024 3 AM PT

NEW YORK — When Shohei Ohtani departed Dodger Stadium to undergo an examination on his partially dislocated shoulder on Saturday night, Miguel Rojas sent him a text message wishing him the best. In response, Ohtani sent Rojas a song.

The song was about Ohtani.

“A fan made a song for him,” Rojas recalled with a chuckle.

The veteran shortstop played the composition on the Dodgers bus, which was headed to Los Angeles International Airport.

“Everybody really loved the song,” Rojas said.

Ohtani also made it a point to write in the players-only group chat that he would be available to play when the World Series resumed two days later at Yankee Stadium.

“I didn’t want to lower the team’s morale,” Ohtani said in Japanese.

Ohtani kept his promise and the Dodgers retained their October magic, claiming a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 on Monday night to increase their series lead to three games to none.

Shohei Ohtani stands in the dugout during the third inning in Game 3 of the World Series.

Ohtani was in obvious pain. He winced when he swung the bat.

He created a makeshift sling to protect his injured shoulder when he was on base, clutching the collar of his gray road uniform. He wore a brace that kept the joint warm between plate appearances.

Yet, his contributions to the win were more than symbolic. He started the game by drawing a four-pitch walk off the Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt. He scored on Freddie Freeman’s two-run home run.

Ohtani grounded out in the third inning, but Tommy Edman advanced to second base on the play, putting him in position to score on a single by Mookie Betts.

Ohtani reached base again in the ninth inning when Yankees closer Luke Weaver grazed his back foot with a cut fastball.

As much as Ohtani revealed about himself in the game, he retained his typical guarded disposition in his postgame news conference. He wouldn’t even acknowledge that he was hurting.

“I don’t remember much about what happened in the at-bats,” Ohtani said. “I don’t know to what degree it shows in my face that it hurts or doesn’t hurt, but I wasn’t thinking about it much.”

Asked if it hurt him more to swing the bat or run the bases, he paused for a moment before saying: “During the game, I don’t think about whether it hurts or doesn’t hurt, so I’m playing with the feeling that I’m not hurt.”

He said that when he was injured while caught stealing second base in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ Game 2 win, his initial concern was to stay on the bag.

“I thought I was safe,” he said.

Ohtani downplayed his effort to play.

“Preparing to play is the obvious thing to do,” he said.

Pointing to how Freeman played through a sprained ankle, Ohtani explained that he simply did what many of his teammates have done.

“Not everyone is always playing under the best of conditions,” he said. “There are many players who are playing in pain.”

If anything, Ohtani said he was grateful that he injured his left shoulder instead of his right, as he suspected that hurting his lead shoulder would have made hitting more difficult.

“It’s fortune within misfortune,” he said.

Ohtani played with his left shoulder taped. He said he ran the bases with his arm held to his chest because “if I slide and my left hand makes the same motion as it did when I was hurt, in my current condition, it could dislocate again. So it was to prevent that.”

Asked if his injury would require offseason surgery, he replied, “I wonder. We haven’t really talked about that.”

Ohtani said he expected to be reexamined after the World Series.

“At this stage,” he said, “I don’t think it’s a problem.”

While Ohtani maintained a calm facade, his teammates clearly were uplifted by his presence.

“Super happy he’s OK,” Betts said. “The most important thing is that he’s OK. His presence in the lineup is so huge.”

To Betts’ point: Partially dislocated shoulder or not, Ohtani terrified Schmidt into walking him on four pitches to start the game.

“Shohei is a player that got his first opportunity to play in the playoffs, and it would be really hard to see him go down before we get to see him do something really special,” Rojas said. “He deserves to be in the lineup.”

Manager Dave Roberts said he would be “in there” for Game 4.