LOS ANGELES — It took just one unforgettable night for Shohei Ohtani to etch his name deeper into baseball history. With three home runs, ten strikeouts, and six shutout innings in Game 4, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar was officially crowned NLCS MVP, leading his team past the Milwaukee Brewers and into their second straight World Series appearance.
It wasn’t just dominance — it was transcendence. Under the bright lights of Dodger Stadium, Ohtani did what no one else could: command the mound like an ace and demolish pitches like a slugger in the same game. Fans witnessed a performance that left broadcasters speechless and teammates in awe. “We ran out of words to describe what he’s doing,” said manager Dave Roberts, shaking his head with a grin. “He’s rewriting what it means to be great in this sport.”
In a pivotal Game 4, with the Dodgers leading 2-1 in the series, Ohtani single-handedly crushed Milwaukee’s momentum. His three towering home runs—each to a different part of the park—turned Dodger Stadium into a roaring cauldron. On the mound, he was even more ruthless: six scoreless innings, ten strikeouts, and not a single Brewer crossing home plate.
When Roberts pulled him in the seventh, the sellout crowd of 52,000 rose as one, chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!” It was a coronation as much as it was a celebration. And fittingly, MLB announced just hours after the game that Ohtani had been unanimously named NLCS Most Valuable Player.
After the game, Ohtani’s words were as humble as ever:
“I don’t think about awards,” he said through a translator. “All I want is to help this team win. The World Series is the goal — and that’s all that matters right now.”
But his numbers tell a different story — one of dominance rarely seen in modern baseball. Ohtani finished the NLCS hitting .429 with 4 HRs, 8 RBIs, and posting a 0.96 ERA in his two pitching starts. He became the first player in MLB postseason history to record both multiple home runs and double-digit strikeouts in the same series.
For the Dodgers, this series wasn’t just about reaching another World Series — it was about proving that their $700 million investment in Ohtani was not just worth it, but historic. After heartbreaks in recent Octobers, this version of Los Angeles feels unstoppable. Freddie Freeman called it “the most focused team I’ve ever been a part of,” while Mookie Betts added, “When you have Shohei doing what he’s doing, everyone around him just plays better.”
Milwaukee’s ace Corbin Burnes admitted postgame, “It’s like facing two All-Stars at once — a top-five hitter and a top-five pitcher. You just pray he makes a mistake. He didn’t.”
With this 5–1 series win, the Dodgers now turn their eyes toward the World Series, where they’ll face the Baltimore Orioles, the Cinderella story of the 2025 season. Ohtani is expected to start Game 1, setting up what could be one of the most anticipated matchups in recent memory.
As the clubhouse erupted in champagne and cheers, Ohtani stood quietly in the corner, smiling. Teammates doused him with beer, chanting his name again and again. He later walked out onto the empty field, where the lights still glowed faintly over Dodger blue.
“Moments like this,” he said softly, “you dream about them when you’re a kid. But it’s not done yet. We still have one more job to finish.”
And with that, the legend of Shohei Ohtani, the two-way phenomenon redefining baseball’s very limits, took another mighty swing — this time, straight toward immortality.
Leave a Reply