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Shohei Ohtani has won two World Series rings in his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, not to mention he’s likely to win back-to-back NL MVP awards.
But the Japanese superstar is already thinking about the next time his team will lift the World Series trophy.
Ohtani was enjoying his time with his teammates, coaches and entire Dodgers Nation Monday in Los Angeles, as the World Series champions celebrated their Game 7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was an extra thriller that ended with the Dodgers retaining the title after beating the New York Yankees in 2024.
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Los Angeles Dodgers two-way infielder Shohei Ohtani (17) and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) during the World Series championship parade and celebration on November 3, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Ohtani was interviewed on one of the Dodgers’ parade buses, where he was asked if this was the “new normal” after winning it all in his first two trips to the postseason.
“I’m already thinking about the third time we’re going to do this,” he said through an interpreter.
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One of the biggest storylines in MLB next season will be whether the Dodgers can become World Series champions for the third year in a row, which would be the first time the franchise has done so.
The last team to achieve this was the Yankees from 1998 to 2000, which was the third time in franchise history that the feat was accomplished (1936-38 and 1949-53). The Oakland Athletics also did this from 1972 to 1974.
Ohtani and the Dodgers wouldn’t be talking about this if there weren’t more postseason heroics in the dugout, especially from Miguel Rojas and Will Smith. Los Angeles was two outs from losing the World Series at Rogers Center on Saturday when Rojas hit a solo home run off Jeff Hoffman to force extra innings. He also had a crucial out at the plate with the bases loaded and a groundout in the bottom of the ninth inning that kept the game tied at four apiece.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani during the Dodgers World Championship Parade and Celebration Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Then, in the top of the 11th inning, Smith launched the game-winning home run off Shane Bieber.
Meanwhile, Ohtani put the Dodgers in an early rut after Bo Bichette hit a towering three-run homer off him in the bottom of the third inning to send the home crowd into a frenzy. The Dodgers would fight back and get their star back, who hit .333 (9-for-27) with three homers, three doubles and five RBIs during the seven-game series.
Ohtani’s best performance was Game 3, where he hit two home runs and went 4-for-4 with two doubles as well in an 18-inning game for the ages, which ended with a Freddie Freeman home run.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after hitting a home run in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 27, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
After Mookie Betts’ decisive double play on a ground ball from Alejandro Kirk in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7, the Dodgers were celebrating again.
Ohtani believes this feeling will be felt next October as well.
