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Shohei Ohtani has 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 two-way Japanese superstar is already thinking about the next time his team lifts the World Series trophy.
Ohtani enjoyed his time with his teammates, coaches and all of Dodgers Nation on Monday in Los Angeles as the World Series champions celebrated their Game 7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was an extra-inning thriller that ended with the Dodgers retaining their title after defeating the New York Yankees in 2024.
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Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Shohei Ohtani (17) and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) during the World Series championship parade and celebration on Nov. 3, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Ohtani was interviewed on one of the Dodgers’ parade buses, where he was asked if this is the “new norm” 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.
DODGERS’ SHOHEI OHTANI SNAPS 50-YEAR DROUGHT AS HE HEAR CHEERS FROM BLUE JAYS FANS
One of the biggest stories for MLB next season will be whether the Dodgers can become World Series champions for a third straight year, which would be the first time the franchise has done so.
The last team to do so was the Yankees from 1998-2000, marking the third time in franchise history that the feat was accomplished (1936-38 and 1949-53). So did the Oakland Athletics from 1972-74.
Ohtani and the Dodgers wouldn’t be talking about this if it weren’t for more postseason heroics in the dugout, especially from Miguel Rojas and Will Smith. Los Angeles was two outs away from losing the World Series at Rogers Center on Saturday when Rojas belted a home run off Jeff Hoffman to force extra innings. He also had a crucial force-out at home plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning that kept the game tied at four.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani during the Dodgers World Championship Parade and Celebration on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
So, at the top of the 11. inning, Smith launched the eventual game-winning home run off Shane Bieber.
Meanwhile, Ohtani had the Dodgers in a rut early in the game after Bo Bichette hit a towering three-run home run off him in the bottom of the third inning to send the home crowd into a frenzy. The Dodgers would fight back and pick up their star, who hit .333 (9-for-27) with three homers, three doubles and five RBI through the seven-game series.
Ohtani’s best performance was Game 3, when he hit two homers and went 4-for-4 with two doubles, also in a record 18-inning game that ended with a Freddie Freeman walk-off home run.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game Three of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 27, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
After Mookie Betts’ game-sealing double play on an Alejandro Kirk ground ball in the bottom of the 11th. inning in Game 7, the Dodgers celebrated again.
Ohtani believes that feeling will also be felt next October.
