TORONTO — Blue Jays fans have gone from tracking flights to picking fights.
Chants of “We don’t need him” rained down on Shohei Ohtani in his ninth-inning at-bat in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night at Rogers Centre. What a moment from the Blue Jays’ fan base, emboldened by an 11-4 win and just three victories away from a championship that would make every disappointment of the past 32 years disappear.
Ohtani eventually walked and was nearly picked off at first, but those chants raining down captured how far this organization has come. Less than two years ago, the Blue Jays’ pursuit of Ohtani inspired hope like we’ve never seen in this market, then came crashing back down. Fans did all they were supposed to do — which is to care — but a million hearts broke all at once when Ohtani posted that Dodger blue on his Instagram.
John Schneider has handled the fallout well, both last year and this one. He’s had some fun with it along the way, asking that Ohtani give back the Blue Jays hat he took from his visit to the team’s complex that December. He’s even jokingly asked for the dog jacket back that the Blue Jays gave to Decoy. After the Game 1 win, though, Schneider knew not to poke the bear.
“I just wanted to get the third out. I love energetic fan bases,” the manager said. “It happens in different ways and shapes and forms in every stadium. We saw it just the last series in Seattle. Kind of heard it, but it’s tough to talk about a player like that, to be honest with you. He’s special. I’m glad that the home run that he hit came when it came and we had a little cushion. But I love that our fans are passionate about our team.”
George Springer didn’t want any part of it, either, wisely sidestepping the questions. People in baseball hold such an incredible respect for Ohtani, regardless of which team he’s on. Asked if it’s true that the Blue Jays don’t need Ohtani, Springer paused and searched for a safe answer, which he eventually found.
“I mean … that’s Shohei Ohtani,” Springer said, smiling and refusing to take the bait. “That’s one of the best baseball players ever and he’s still got 15 more years to go. He’s an unbelievable talent, but this is who we are as a team. This is us.”
The Ohtani saga is a story we’ll always tell in this city, one which drew a bizarre cast of characters together into a tangled web of stories, some real and too many fictional. Fans had their hearts toyed with, though, and for fans who have stuck with this Blue Jays team while it chased its first postseason win since 2016 and first World Series appearance since ‘93, the exhaustion was understandable. Besides, the Dodgers had won enough and had enough things go their way.
Now, Ohtani is right back in front of them and this fan base is embracing it. This is like a breakup, when all of your friends rally around and tell you, “You’re better off without them.”
Do they even need to believe it? That part doesn’t matter.
“I didn’t hear any of that,” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said, and we’ll just have to take his word on that. “I was focused on trying to get those three outs. Obviously, they’re fans and they’re always going to support us.”
Ernie Clement cracked a smile and said that he got a laugh out of it, but just like everyone before him, Clement didn’t want to feed any fires. The Dodgers are already good enough. They don’t need bulletin board material and no player — World Series opponent or not — wants to disrespect the great Ohtani, even in the heat of competition.
“We have the guys who we have, and the guys we have have done a hell of a job,” Clement said. “I don’t think we need any more or any less of what we have right now.”
Ohtani will surely get to the Blue Jays again in this Series. If it’s not at the plate, he’ll beat them on the mound. The Blue Jays took Round 1, though, and for a fan base that’s sick of coming second, this was one big, loud step toward winning it all.