The Los Angeles Dodgers know who they will be facing in the World Series on Friday after the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League pennant, but it’s unlikely to make a big difference in their approach.
Throughout their championship season last year and this year’s run back to the fall classic, the Dodgers have overcome every opponent with a remarkably deep roster of star players. From Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell, the Dodgers have one of the most complete teams in modern baseball history.
However, even among a roster littered with future Hall of Famers, Shohei Ohtani stands out as the single best player. That was clear in the fourth game of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, when he pitched six strong innings and logged three homers in what might be the greatest single performance in the history of the sport.
That effort led Ohtani to win the series’ Most Valuable Player Award. But before the World Series begins, a big change has been made to the trophy for that award that emphasizes the Dodgers’ championship approach.
“Shohei Ohtani’s NLCS MVP trophy is on display in the middle of the Dodgers’ clubhouse with a ‘Team Effort’ sign covering the Most Valuable Player engraving,” Blake Williams, the managing editor for Dodger Blue, noted on X.
Though Ohtani shoulders a uniquely individual load for the Dodgers by serving as the team’s most dangerous hitter while also performing as a key member of the starting rotation, it seems that he’d rather celebrate the team’s accomplishments at this point than his own.
That’s an insightful sign into his outlook on the sport and it could also be the key to a back-to-back championship for the Dodgers.
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