Shohei Ohtani is now a World Series champion, but it’s clear he wants more.
Soon after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series in five games on Wednesday night, Ohtani ran into Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. He immediately made a promise.
When the Dodgers gave Ohtani and 10-year, $700 million contract, the goal was to win championships. According to The Athletic, Ohtani found Friedman and said, “Alright. Nine more, nine more.”
The nine he’s referring to is World Series titles. Ohtani has nine years left on his contract. So the greatest baseball player on the planet was saying his goal is to win a title in each year he plays with the Dodgers.
After that interaction, Friedman said, “In his first year, he won a championship. He’s like, ‘This is easy. We’re just gonna do it again nine more times.'”
It’s hard to argue against Ohtani having the best first season with a new franchise in MLB history. He hit .310, with 54 home runs, 130 RBIs, an OPS of 1.036 and he stole 59 bases becoming the first player to ever notch 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. Then, to cap it off, he led his team to a World Series title.
It will be hard for Ohtani to top his 2024 campaign. But if anyone can do it, he can.
