Shohei Ohtani Celebrated His First Ever Division Title With His Dog

For the 11th time in 12 seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the National League West division. Their one miss in the past 12 years? The 2021 season, when they won 106 games and came up one game short to the miraculous, 107-win San Francisco Giants. For much of the Dodgers roster and front office, winning the division has become almost an expected ritual. But not for the team's best player, Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani picked the Dodgers in free agency specifically because they've consistently made the postseason. And while the team already clinched his first-ever playoff appearance, they entered a three-game series with the San Diego Padres needing to win two out of three games to secure Ohtani's first division title. And postgame champagne celebration.

After a miraculous loss on Tuesday, where the Dodgers managed to hit into a game-ending triple play with Ohtani on deck, a division title at home seemed unlikely. 

READ: Dodgers Keep Finding New Ways To Lose With Game-Ending Triple Play

But they held on for a hard fought 4-3 win on Wednesday, thanks to an Ohtani RBI double in the 4th and RBI single in the 6th. 

Thursday, he did it again, driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Mookie Betts added on, Andy Pages delivered some insurance, and the Dodgers closed out another division title. And Shohei brought his dog on the field to celebrate.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a one run base hit against San Diego Padres during the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium on September 26, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Shohei Ohtani can break the record for most stolen bases in a season by a Japanese-born player. He tied Ichiro at 56 last night. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Shohei Ohtani And The Dodgers Have Lots Of Work Left To Do

After the clubhouse speeches, Ohtani went out to the field to join his wife Mamiko, who brought their dog Decoy down to celebrate.

Hard to beat clinching your first ever division title, playing some of the best offensive baseball anyone's ever seen, and having your dog there to celebrate. 

Still, the Dodgers division title was far from easy, and it signifies the issues they face heading into October. The Padres have been the best team in baseball since the All-Star break, and won eight out of 13 games against Los Angeles this season. If the season ended today, the Dodgers would play the winner of a Padres-Mets wild card series in the NLDS.

Pitcher injuries have decimated the once-fearsome starting rotation. Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start games one and two, but a diminished Walker Buehler, rookie Landon Knack, or the potential return of Clayton Kershaw or Tony Gonsolin from injury is not what the front office had in mind heading into the season. Meanwhile, the Padres and Phillies have their rotations almost completely healthy. Philadelphia can start Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez with confidence. San Diego too has Dylan Cease, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish to turn to.

The Dodgers might have the best record in baseball, a first round bye and potential home field advantage. But we've seen in recent years how little any of those factors actually matter. There's plenty of uncertainty, but what they do know is that they have one of the best hitters on the planet, playing his best baseball of a historic season. And that might be enough to make a deep postseason run.