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Toronto Blue Jays fans shower Ohtani in boos to kick off World Series

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Oct 25 2025, 12:27 am
Toronto Blue Jays fans shower Ohtani in boos to kick off World Series
Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images

Toronto Blue Jays fans weren’t shy to show their feelings towards LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani early in Game 1 of the World Series.

Ohtani, who is serving as the leadoff hitter for the Dodgers, seemed to know what was coming as his name was called as part of player introductions. The 31-year-old phenom had a big smile on his face as boos rained down from those at Rogers Centre.

The smile didn’t last long for Ohtani, however, as he wound up being struck out in his first at bat by Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage. To no surprise, the crowd at Rogers Centre was absolutely loving it.

The reason for the boos, of course, is that the Blue Jays and their fan base thought they were landing Ohtani as a free agent ahead of the 2024 season. Instead, he wound up agreeing to a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers.

Though there is seemingly no bad blood between the Blue Jays themselves and Ohtani, manager John Schneider did joke before this series that he would like the elite talent to return the hat he was given when meeting with the Jays brass as a free agent.

ā€œI hope he brought his hat, the Blue Jays hat that he took from us in our meeting,ā€ Schneider said. ā€œI hope he brought it back, finallyā€¦ and the jacket for [his dog] Decoy, like, give us our stuff back already.ā€

Being a good sport about it all, Ohtani laughed when told about Schneider’s comments. He told reporters that he still has the hat stored in his garage.

With the opening two games of this series being in Toronto, there should be plenty more boos coming Ohtani’s way. They will only become louder should the series return to Rogers Centre for a potential Game 6 and Game 7.

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