“Acting like a scorned ex”; “Ippei Mizuhara probably stole those” - Fans troll as Blue Jays manager jokes about Shohei Ohtani keeping team gear

The Toronto Blue Jays will host the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first two games of the World Series at Rogers Centre. Ahead of the series opener Blue Jays manager John Schneider joked about Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese star's free agency was the most talked-about event leading up to the 2024 season, with Ohtani being pursued by several teams. His camp also met the Blue Jays, who were one of the front-runners for his signature at the time.

However, Ohtani signed a blockbuster $700 million deal with the Dodgers to conclude his free agency. Schneider joked about their meeting with the Japanese star before his Dodgers move, asking Ohtani to return the Blue Jays merchandise he received from the team.

"I hope he brought the hat, the Blue Jays hat he took from our meeting," Schneider said. "And the jacket for Decoy. Give us our stuff back."

MLB fans reacted to the Blue Jays manager's playful remarks on Ohtani.

"Acting like a scorned ex."

"Ippei probably stole those too from Shohei."

"Ohtani already sold those things to cover gambling debt."

"Ohtani probably put that hat in the trash can on his way out."

"Baby that's in a thrift shop in Silverlake and has been for years."

Blue Jays manager David Schneider downplays David vs. Goliath talk ahead of Dodgers clash

The Dodgers head into their second consecutive World Series after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the championship series. Despite the defending World Series champions' run in the postseason, Blue Jays manager David Schneider claims the Dodgers are "beatable."

"Two best teams left standing," Schneider said. "Again, built differently, have different strengths. There's a reason we are here and there's a reason they're there. I think the one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath.

"That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its really, really good strengths. How we expose each of them will determine who wins the series."

The Blue Jays will host the Dodgers in Game 1 at Rogers Centre on Friday, followed by Game 2 at the venue before travelling to Los Angeles for the next three games.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash