LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 05: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on August 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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The Los Angeles Dodgers managed to win a second straight World Series championship this year but it wasn’t an easy journey.
The team was tested by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Fall Classic and had to rely on some extra-innings heroics to secure a Game 7 victory in the series. And the team’s regular season was a much tougher test this past season that it was en route to their championship in 2024.
Unlike two seasons ago, the Dodgers seemed at real risk of losing the National League West division this past year, with the rival San Diego Padres seizing the lead in late August. The tension between the two teams peaked during a series in June, when star players on both sides were struck by pitches.
“Shohei Ohtani took a 100 mph fastball to his right shoulder blade,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez reported after one notable game in the rivalry series. “A half-inning earlier, Fernando Tatis Jr. took a 93 mph fastball to the right hand from Dodgers rookie right-hander Jack Little.”
Both managers, a bench coach and the pitcher who struck Ohtani, Robert Suarez, were all ejected from that game. And the two sides seemed eager to return to the business of baseball and put an end to the drama after the game concluded. But apparently Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani didn’t want to move on completely.
According to Dodgers announcer Stephen Nelson, Ohtani made a notable change to his routine after that game in order to send the Padres a message.
“If you watch Shohei Ohtani at the start of every game, his first plate appearance, he walks to the plate and he tips his helmet to the opposing dugout and then he does his salute,” Nelson said during a recent segment on ESPN LA. “There is only one team and one manager that he stopped doing that for, and that was Mike Shildt and the San Diego Padres after what happened at Dodger Stadium where they threw up and in and hit him with Suarez at 100 in the back.”
Shildt left his role with the Padres shortly after the season concluded, so Ohtani might return to his typical routine against the team next season. But in any case, Nelson underscored that his change this past season was a quiet way of indicating his frustration with the treatment.
“There was no more pregame salute,” Nelson added. “So, we talk about manners and respect. I think his understanding (is) that respect is a two-way street. Once you cross that line, he is aware of it.”
Ohtani is typically reserved in his public comments, particularly about other teams. So the decision to refrain from tipping his helmet to the Padres’ dugout after being struck by a pitch is about as strong of a message as he is likely to send.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterchawaga/2025/11/18/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-sent-padres-message-respect-is-a-two-way-street/
