On Friday, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani spoke about the toll of not being able to play in the Major League Baseball postseason each of the last six years with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani, through his interpreter, called it “really a mixed, complicated feeling not being able to participate in the postseason.”
The Angels never qualified for the playoffs as Ohtani won the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year award, and the AL MVP awards in 2021 and 2023. A four-time All-Star, Ohtani went 38-19 as a pitcher in 86 starts for the Angels, while also averaging 41 home runs and 97 RBIs in the last three seasons before signing with the Dodgers in Dec. 2023.
For MLB, the absence of its most marketable player on the field during its most visible time of the season offered no mixed feelings. It was a bummer.
Now, the league is taking advantage of its ability to showcase Ohtani prominently in its postseason marketing campaigns. Via its social media channels, MLB released a 30-second spot starring Otani and New York Yankees star Aaron Judge entitled “Once in a Generation. Twice.” The Yankees and Dodgers play their first games of the 2024 postseason Saturday. The Dodgers are hosting the San Diego Padres, and the Yankees are hosting the Kansas City Royals.
