Boos rain down on Ohtani before he quiets crowd with emphatic homer

TORONTO -- After a dramatic offseason that reached its peak with a flurry of inaccurate media reports and online flight tracking, Shohei Ohtani was greeted by a loud round of boos by the home crowd at Rogers Centre.

Ohtani was lightly booed during pregame introductions, but those quickly got louder once he stepped to the plate in the first inning. The Dodgers’ star two-way player, however, wasted no time taking flight, smashing a solo homer over the right-field wall, which only drew more boos from the crowd, in the Dodgers’ 12-2 blowout win over the Blue Jays on Friday at Rogers Centre.

“Not surprised,” Ohtani said of the reception through interpreter Will Ireton. “I really do feel that the fans here are passionate, and when they are, that’s the kind of reception that they will probably do. So I’m just very grateful and respectful that the fans here are passionate, just as much as the Dodger fans are with us.”

While Ohtani took the high road on the boos at Rogers Centre, some of his teammates and manager Dave Roberts did say they were surprised. Will Smith, who didn’t keep up with most of the rumors this offseason, was confused as to why the fans in attendance were booing Ohtani.

But in the moment, the Dodgers decided to have some fun. When Ohtani got back into the visiting dugout, his teammates responded by booing Ohtani themselves.

“That was pretty funny. He got a big kick out of that,” Roberts said. “But I don’t think it’s a motivator. He’s shown he compartmentalizes really well. So he heard it, and then once he gets in the box, he goes out there and takes his at-bats.”

Ohtani also decided to have some fun of his own in the dugout. With his seventh homer of the season, the Dodgers’ designated hitter tied Roberts for the most by a Japanese-born player in Dodgers franchise history.

“He did look at me and say, ‘Now we’re tied,’” Roberts laughed. “I think he’s motivated by beating my Dodgers home run record.”

Ohtani’s free agency, for some reasons out of his control, turned into one of the most polarizing the sport has ever seen. In the end, Ohtani’s choices came down to the Giants, Blue Jays and Dodgers. The Angels were also very much in play, but they wouldn’t match the $700 million structure the other franchises signed off on.

Ohtani’s impact on and off the field, and the secrecy with which he approached the decision, created a lot of room for rumors. None was bigger than when reports surfaced online that Ohtani was flying on a private plane from Orange County to Toronto. Other reports went out that Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, who attended Ohtani’s high school, had reserved a Japanese restaurant in order to celebrate the signing.

Ohtani, of course, wasn’t on the plane to Toronto. Instead, it was Canadian investor Robert Herjavec, who is widely known in part for his appearances on “Shark Tank." The next day, Ohtani signed a 10-year pact with the Dodgers.

Even though Ohtani himself played no part in those rumors, his free agency and the Blue Jays' organization will remain linked for some time, and it didn't take him long to deliver a reminder of what Toronto will have to battle against for the next decade.

"Aside from how the fans may or may not think, I'm just very grateful for the teams that approached me and wanted to sign me,” Ohtani said. “As I said in my press conference before, ultimately I could only choose one team."

Though it was Ohtani who got things started on Friday, his teammates helped finish the job in another impressive win. Smith completed his fourth four-hit game of the season, including a double and a homer, passing Mookie Betts for the Major League lead. Max Muncy also smashed a three-run homer to cap off a six-run third.

On the mound, Gavin Stone delivered one of the best starts of his young career, tossing seven innings of one-run ball. It was yet another full-team win for the Dodgers, who have now won five in a row.

“We talked about not playing a complete game about a week ago,” Roberts said. “And you look at this last week, we’ve played a handful of complete baseball games. It’s what we can do. It’s good to see.”