Dodgers News: Blue Jays Fans Still Reeling Over Shohei Ohtani Decision
Sitting in the second row behind the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout at Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon sat Gordon Hagen of Tiny, Ontario, holding a homemade sign, wishing Shohei Ohtani would look up and catch a glimpse of it.
Hagen spent his lunch breaks all week trying to create the perfect message to send to his favorite baseball player who inadvertently turned his world upside down for a day in December last year. On Dec. 8, 2023, Jon Morosi of MLB Network posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying Ohtani was “en route to Toronto.”
Hagen and his close group of friends couldn’t contain their excitement and their group text had them researching the internet to find out if the rumors were true or not. They landed on Toronto opera singer, Clarence Frazer’s post stating: “SOURCE: Yusei Kikuchi reserves entire upscale sushi restaurant near Rogers Centre for tonight. Reservation made for 50+ people. Make of it what you will…”
“I got no work done that day,” Hagen reminisced. “I was one of the people calling sushi restaurants saying ‘Are you closed for a private event?’ I was so enthralled, so were my friends and we were all losing our minds.”
The rumors had gotten out of hand according to Hagen, who couldn’t stop laughing while telling the story.
“We were like, ‘Oh my God, he’s coming.’ This is the greatest day ever in all of Toronto sports.”
And then, reality set in.
Ohtani wasn’t on a plane to Toronto, instead, it was Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den investor Robert Herjavec and his two daughters.
Hagen wasn’t the only Blue Jays fan who thought about what could have been while the Dodgers were in town. Jim Gourley of Calgary, Alberta, told Dodgers Nation he was at the movie theater with his son while the rumors were flying around.
“The whole afternoon we were following the news. Before the movie started, I turned my phone off and turned to my son and told him, ‘When this is over, Ohtani is going to be a Blue Jay.’ After the movie, I fired up my phone expecting to see he was a Blue Jay and instead, he was a Dodger.”
Both Hagen and Gourley see the silver lining in losing the Ohtani sweepstakes. Gourley said that it’s the best thing to ever happen to the Jays “because it has to be.”
Through the first two games against the Blue Jays, Ohtani has gone 2-for-9 with a home run, two runs batted in and a run scored. On Saturday, his single to right field in the second inning was recorded at 119.2 mph off the bat — the hardest-hit ball in Ohtani’s career and the hardest by any player in the major leagues this season.
And for a moment the boos turned to wows because even though the city of Toronto was left disappointed, seeing Ohtani in person is still exciting for the fans despite him wearing a different uniform.
Photo Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
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