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TORONTO — Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani will land in Toronto with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the World Series kicks off on Friday, but his fans in Canada say they will still cheer for the Blue Jays.
Christine Takasaki, a program co-ordinator at the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre in Toronto, says she has respect for what Ohtani has achieved as a player, but she has been a Blue Jays fan almost her entire life – and that’s not going to change.
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The Blue Jays were strong contenders to sign Ohtani in free agency before he agreed to a record US$700-million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in 2023.
Speculation that Ohtani was about to sign with the Jays hit feverish levels in December of that year amid reports that he was on a Toronto-bound private jet, which social media users tracked for hours, only to realize that it was not true.
Takasaki says while the Jays have all the talent they need to defeat the Dodgers and win the World Series for a third time, it would have been an “absolute amazing boon” had Ohtani decided to join the team two years ago.
Toronto resident Jaeden Sasaki, an Ohtani fan, says the Jays have the lineup depth to take the series, but hopes the Japanese legend “doesn’t go too hard” on them.
The Blue Jays made it to the World Series for the first time in more than 30 years after defeating the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series Monday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
The Canadian Press
