Dodgers and Blue Jays talk about what makes Shohei Ohtani a special player
USA TODAY Sports interviewed members of the Dodgers and Blue Jays ahead of the World Series to discuss Shohi Ohtani’s unique talent.
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TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays hated the story.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had three Hall of Famers in their lineup.
The Blue Jays were a cute, adorable team north of the border.
The Dodgers were a powerful team that was supposed to ruin baseball.
“Everyone was comparing us to David vs. Goliath,” Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Rooks said. “For us, it was like Goliath and Goliath. We’re the last two teams left standing, but there’s a reason for that.
“They’ve got Hall of Fame players. We’re just a nasty, annoying team. We’re a very annoying team.”
Oh, is that so?
On Friday night, the Blue Jays surprised the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series, handing them their biggest loss of the postseason, 11-4.
The Blue Jays scored nine runs in the sixth inning, the third most in World Series history.
They produced the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.
And Dodgers ace Blake Snell, who allowed just six hits and two runs throughout the postseason, gave up eight hits and five runs in just five innings.
The Blue Jays had 14 hits, the fourth-most in World Series history.
The Dodgers didn’t know what hit them.
They left the field along with a sold-out Rogers Center crowd of 44,353, listening to a serenade mocking Shohei Ohtani.
“That was pretty fun,” said Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who made his major league debut as a second baseman. “It was all fun, you know?”
When you’re supposed to win the World Series by a landslide, or maybe even win one if you’re lucky, why not have a little fun along the way?
“It hasn’t really hit home yet,” said Blue Jays left fielder Davis Schneider, who watched Addison Berger hit a grand slam as a pinch hitter. “It felt like a different game right now, and that’s how we play here.
“Hey, if we can win three more games and get this done, I might feel a whole lot different.”
The Blue Jays’ offensive line prides itself on being the nastiest team with the second fewest strikeouts of any team in baseball this season, and the Dodgers discovered firsthand how they can be a living, breathing nightmare.
The Blue Jays couldn’t score from Snell in the first inning, but they forced him to throw 29 pitches. Snell, who had started three postseason games and averaged seven innings, was knocked out after just five innings in his shortest stint since Sept. 4. And while he struck out 27 batters this postseason, he only struck out four in Game 1.
“I think the level of competition is huge, never giving in and competing with two strikes,” said Bichette, who played in his first game since Sept. 6. “We have a lot of talent, a lot of guys who have done really great things in this game…but just the ability to compete and never give up, I think that’s great for any team.”
The Blue Jays were down 2-0 by the third inning, and the Dodgers put rookie Trey Yesavage on the ropes. It looked like the Milwaukee Brewers were wearing Blue Jays uniforms.
But then Dalton Varsho, son of former major leaguer outfielder Gary Varsho, hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the fourth inning.
Then came the glorious sixth inning, with the Blue Jays’ first six batters on base. By the end of the inning, they had struck out three Dodgers pitchers, scored nine runs, had six hits, and had nine baserunners.
“That’s the way we play,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Certainly, no lead is safe, not just the comeback Jays.
Blue Jays infielder Isaiah Kiner-Falefa said, “I think losing 2-0 was a big factor.” “And we just did what we had to do all year. There was no panic. There was literally no panic. It was like another game. We responded.”
“And we just kept rolling, rolling, rolling until the big game. It was kind of like we’d been doing it all year, really. It was almost like it wasn’t a big deal.”
Simply put, this was the Blue Jays’ 52nd come-from-behind win of the season and 49th in the regular season, the most in the major leagues.
Hmmm. Just one more thing.
“We knew it was going to happen someday,” Kinner-Falefa said, “we didn’t know when. The special thing about this team is that you never know who it’s going to be that night. When you show up on the field, we always joke about that: ‘Who’s it going to be? We don’t care, but we know someone is going to step up.’
“Berger was the one who stepped up to the big spot, but until that happened, everyone did their job to get on base and pass the baton.”
Yes, and as the Dodgers discovered, not a single Blue Jays batter struck out in that historic sixth inning. In fact, after No. 9 hitter Andres Jimenez got his second strikeout of the night in the fourth inning, the Blue Jays didn’t have a single strikeout.
“Everyone here hates to strike out, whether it’s an o-and-two or whatever. That’s what makes this team special,” Rooks said.
It was just last winter that the Blue Jays acquired Cleveland Guardians outfielder Myles Straw and his inflated contract to gain additional international money. It was hoped that they would use the extra money to sign pitcher Aki Sasaki, only to end up losing to the Dodgers again, just as they had with Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
But here Straw was standing in front of his locker talking about the strengths of the Blue Jays’ offense, a classic example of the Blue Jays’ emphasis on defense and contact at the plate.
“We still have our power guys and we still have a lot of talent in our batting line,” Straw said.
“It served us well all year.”
And yes, even with Ohtani, the runner-up in the $700 million sweepstakes two years ago, on the other side, the Blue Jays are proving they can still win without the big man.
“We have the players and they do a great job,” Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement said. “So I don’t think we need anything more or less than what we have right now. We just keep being aggressive, keep swinging for strikes, keep taking bases.”
“This is our identity, and our multidimensional attacks allow us to defeat you in many ways.”
They don’t operate in the shadows of Hollywood. They don’t have any big names sitting behind home plate. And they haven’t won a World Series in 32 years.
But they can play games. If you don’t believe me, just take a look.
“We know what they have and how good they are,” Clement said. “It’s a great challenge because they’ve been here before, but you know, we’re a great baseball team as well.
“I think people are going to find out soon.”
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