April 07, 2025
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Shohei Ohtani struck out three times in the Dodgers' loss in South Philadelphia on Sunday.
As a general sports lover, you want to be able to say you saw the greats with your own two eyes. I've seen LeBron James play at both the Wells Fargo Center and the Palestra. I've seen Tom Brady suit up against the Birds. I've seen all of Roy Halladay, Pedro Martinez, Clayton Kershaw and Randy Johnson pitch. I've witnessed Barry Bonds step in the batter's box at Citizens Bank Park on my 12th birthday as he chased home run records. It creates a connection with you and a given sport's history that will exist long after we're all gone.
That brings me to Sunday in South Philadelphia. My first in-person Phillies game of the year was a thriller, an 8-7 seesaw victory over the defending champion Dodgers squad that is trying to establish itself as an all-time team. The series rubber match began with Shohei Ohtani, a Ruthian talent and the face of baseball to a degree we haven't seen in decades, at the plate.
He struck out.
Then he struck out again.
And again.
The Phillies made him look silly, and, really, they did all series. He was caught stealing in a high-leverage situation in Friday night's Fightins win. Ohtani had a laughable OPS of .322 in the Dodgers' three-game set with the Phils. The three-time MVP did not resemble the generational talent I've witnessed from afar. On a cold Sunday affair that felt like playoff weather and a playoff atmosphere, the Phillies got the best of, well, the best.
If you're expecting me to say that Ohtani isn't all that after this little rant, that's certainly not the case. You don't necessarily want to tempt fate and see Ohtani have a 1.200 OPS with a handful of scoreless innings on the mound to boot while he wins NLCS MVP and the Dodgers advance past the Phillies come October.
It was a dream scenario for a Phillies fan, though. You were able to check seeing Ohtani live off your bucket list, but you watched former afterthought and unlikely All-Star Cristopher Sánchez battle against him and win handily. That's the beauty of baseball. If the Phils and Dodgers played each other 162 times, Ohtani's numbers probably end up looking rather similar to his career numbers overall. If the Phillies can get the upper hand on both Ohtani and the Dodgers over the course of three games in April, however, what's to say that they can't do the same across seven games in October?
The Dodgers are exactly how a fan would want their baseball team to operate: make light work of contract laws, get the best players no matter the cost and reap the rewards. They're a juggernaut team that could realistically win 110-plus games this season. I'm also way less scared of a Phils-Dodgers playoff series than I was 72 hours ago.
This Phillies campaign should be viewed as "championship or bust" as much by this city as the baseball world regards it as such for the Dodgers. This era has had its World Series and playoff flameouts. Give the city a parade or get lost. If it's the Dodgers that are standing in front of the Phillies for a chance to return to the Fall Classic in six months, though, the Phils are going to have a fighting chance. Ohtani looks like a god among mortals on most days, but maybe, just maybe, he'll look like a regular ol' Joe once more if the Dodgers return to CBP in October.
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