San Diego Padres fans will think twice before heckling Shohei Ohtani
The Dodgers and Padres emerged from their weekend rivalry series just as they began the regular season in late April – tied for first place atop the NL West. What Rob Manfred has dubbed the west coast’s Red Sox vs Yankees rivalry delivered more Shohei Ohtani heroics, and a subtle reminder of just how close these teams are from a talent perspective, especially after AJ Preller added to San Diego’s arsenal at the MLB trade deadline.
Ohtani in particular had his moment on Sunday in front of Padres fans at Petco Park. Prior to his at-bat, Padres fans booed Ohtani harder than most Dodgers players. Ohtani is the face of the franchise is took a deferred deal to keep Los Angeles competitive throughout his tenure. The Padres – who would’ve jumped at the chance to make Ohtani their own – weren’t as lucky.
The Japanese two-way star hit a home run on Sunday, and then high-fived one Padres fan who had been heckling him all game long. Said Padres fan was a good sport about the entire situation, learning the hard way what happens when you mess with an international superstar.
This Padres fan dapped up Shohei Ohtani 😂
(via @MLB)
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 24, 2025
Dave Roberts wasn’t as happy about Padres fans’ heckling of Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers managed Dave Roberts, again unaware of his team’s reputation on the road, chastised Padres fans for booing Ohtani postgame.
“Very annoying. He was in my right ear the entire game. It was very out of character from Shohei. It was good to see Shohei initiate a high-five. That was fun. It was great to see Shohei show his personality,” Roberts said.
What Roberts fails to understand – and what Dodgers fans in particular do not get – is that they are the evil empire now. The days of the Yankees, Red Sox and other east coast threats out-spending and out-maneuvering the Dodgers are over. To LA’s credit, they built the front office every other contender now wants to replicate. Their scouting department, specifically at the international level, helped them land Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and more. Their team culture is so successful that free agents fawn at the chance to sign in Los Angeles.
Dave Roberts, Dodgers can’t take the heat like Shohei Ohtani
To Ohtani’s credit, he did not complain about heckling Padres fans…because why should he? Shohei is so talented he can assume that in most of these situations, he’ll get the last laugh. However, that hasn’t always been the case against the Padres. Over the course of his career, Ohtani has just a .218 batting average against the Friars in 37 games.
But said struggles are part of baseball. Even the best of players fail in seven of 10 at-bats, if not more! The Dodgers assembled the best organization in the sport – and one of the most efficient I’ve ever seen. They are World Series favorites each and every year because of that progress, and they continue to find ways to improve.
What Roberts’ doesn’t seem to get is that fans are booing out of pure hatred. No, this dives deeper than vitriol, but at its root is little more than petty jealousy. If Roberts’ Dodgers can’t overcome a jealous fanbase, then they don’t deserve another World Series, either.
