Shohei Ohtani Makes a Statement as Dodgers Raise World Series Banner in LA

It wasn’t a home season opener at Dodger Stadium Thursday night; it was a premiere straight off the Hollywood Boulevard.

In the honor of the movie, the Los Angeles Dodgers marched down the runway with a resounding 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers; it’s not just about any victory on grass and in front of an ecstatic sellout crowd of 53,595.

Shohei Ohtani had his second home run of the season as if he were being cheered by Tom Hanks, Mary Hart, and Rob Lowe from the front row, all waving and yelling as if they had just won an Oscar.

Teoscar Hernandez made the biggest hit of the game with a 3-run shot to put the Dodgers in front, giving manager Dave Roberts some well-earned praise for batting him third.

The Dodgers won again; they were, after all, the only team to record a 3-0 season in baseball, and they dreamed of winning more regular-season games than any team before them.

And yet again, there rang Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” as the fans made their way to the exits.

The night ended with all the Dodgers talking about their spectacular pre-game performance, which made the game kind of anticlimactic.

“It was definitely amazing,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy told USA TODAY Sports. “It gives you chill seeing everything and seeing the trophy back on the field. It’s just really cool. They went above and beyond.

“But still, that’s kind of what you come to expect from this city, this organization, and that’s a good thing.”

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The party kicked off with people flocking in the early hours of the morning and speeding to an early parking spot. Immediately after the night’s activity, this party emulated all the best memories triggered by that trip to the ballpark, and three hours before the game, the souvenir stores were packed, the concession stands were long, and everybody rushed to buy anything they could get their hands on with that Dodger name-from uniforms to shot glasses to hats.

Talk about a parade-a-show. Kasten waved the entire championship edition leather jacket around in the clubhouse and on the field, instructing everyone that it was available for purchase at $300 in Dodger souvenir stores.

At 6:34 p.m. ET, the World Series celebration resumed as the Dodgers, with gold trim on white uniforms and gold numbers on the back, strode out through center field gates to blue fireworks and white smoke machines, skipping along the blue carpet of the field as the sellout crowd got ever-louder in their cries.

They lined up along the third-base line when the crowd was directed to look at the scoreboard. There was a video of rapper Ice Cube driving a dark blue Chevy Bel-Air convertible in which the World Series trophy sat in the passenger seat. The center-field gate opened with him in view, driving along the warning track, and parking in front of the Dodgers’ dugout where he walked out and handed it to Magic Johnson, who took it to home plate.

But the Dodgers were not finished. They wanted to immortalize Freddie Freeman’s historic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, so they brought out the whole Freeman family: his wife, kids, dad, and stepmom. Freeman’s dad, Fred, was handed the mic to say “I’m living the Dad’s perfect dream.”

Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis reminding us that Freeman’s homer so reminded him of Kirk Gibson’s 1988 home run in Game 1 of the World Series against Oakland that it was time to bring the two together on the field.

“Gibby, say” Meet Freddie, “sounded Davis, a flip-flop of last year’s Game 1 call, when he said,” Freddie, meet Gibby. “

Out comes Gibson again, who also led the Detroit Tigers to the 1984 World Series title, as the applause roars. He walked to Freeman, took pictures, and went to the mound to throw the first pitch for the ceremony, having Freeman catch it, of course.

Now came the moment of unveiling the World Series banner while the Dodgers’ ownership group huddled in the center-field pavilion, and with Johnson and tennis legend Billy Jean King tugging on the rope, hoisted the banner high into the air next to the American flag. The plaque for the 2024 World Series was then unveiled by captains of the Los Angeles and Pasadena fire departments in the right-field corner.

The teams lined up for Josh Groban’s rendition of the national anthem and then the flyover with four jets, two F-15Cs and two F-35 Lightning fighter jets, and then Ice Cube grabbing the mic and announcing, “It’s time for Dodger baseball.”.

“It was a wonderful ceremony,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, “a beautiful day to take account of what we accomplished in 2024. The fans were really into it. The presentation with Freddie meeting Gibby, I thought Gibby throwing out the first pitch was fantastic.”

“It’s special every day in its own way, but we really nailed it with these gold hats and uniforms.”

The game was intense, but the excitement of the event before the game couldn’t be well compared to it. This included two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell making his debut with the Dodgers against reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Snell allowed nine batters to reach base in five innings, but the Tigers could not take advantage by going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position off Snell, and 0-for-15 for the game.

“I’m excited to get that one out of the way,” said Snell. “They’re a scrappy team.”

Snell would want to see the pre-game ceremony, but he thinks he will see the replay at some point, and he would take missing Thursday’s ceremony for Friday’s ring presentation any day.

“I am looking forward to that,” said Snell, who won’t be getting a ring since he pitched last season for the San Francisco Giants. “I’m just excited to see what they look like.”

The call of the day went to Roberts, who opted to bat Hernandez third in the order and drop Freeman, a left-handed hitter, down to cleanup against left-handed Skubal on the mound.

“There’s a Teoscar tax to get to Freddie a third time,” Roberts had said before the game. “It makes it tougher for a pitcher and manager to navigate though our lineup with Freddie facing a lefty.”

So what happens?

Hernandez, with two men on and two outs, and the Dodgers down 2-1, took Skubal’s 96-moh fastball deep to the center-field seats for a 3-run home run, a lead the Dodgers would never relinquish.

“Obviously, I put the best show that I can give to the fans,” Hernandez said, ”so they can enjoy the game.”

Next up is the World Series ring ceremony Friday. Facing them will be Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, who also just so happened to help them win that ring, and who will get his ring Saturday.

Sick infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernandez couldn’t even come to the game, and the only hitch in the Dodgers’ day came early in the afternoon when Ohtani walked into the Dodger glitzy new two-level clubhouse, which looks more like a bar “W” with its lighting than a baseball locker room. As one of the last to arrive, Ohtani quickly dressed but soon found himself unable to locate his uniform belt.

He called for a clubhouse attendant. He rummaged through the three enclaves in Ohtani’s locker. He searched the four bottom drawers in Ohtani’s locker. Still nothing. Finally, he stood on his tiptoes, reached into the high space above Ohtani’s locker, and pulled out his duffel bag.

Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Tigers.
The attendant and Ohtani rifled through the bag, and finally, there it was, the shiny new blue belt.

The show could roll on, and yes, Ohtani donned the same belt when he slammed one into the left field stands, with everyone going home happy believing this could be yet another season to remember.

“Technically, this was not the opening series for us so I could play the game in the way I want,” Ohtani said. “Yet for that reason, to be in front of these fans, in this circumstance, does make me even more motivated to win another championship.”

Said Roberts, “We want to run it back.”

Over and over again.

“There is a lot of excitement with our fanbase,’ Roberts said, “and our players can feel it.”

It’s three down, 159 more games, and October.