Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani welcomed back warmly in Anaheim - ESPN

ANAHEIM, Calif. — When he prepared for his first at-bat in Tuesday's top of the first, fans saluted him with a standing ovation. When he roped a line drive down the right-field line two innings later, «MVP» chants greeted him as he reached third base. And when he was intentionally walked in the 10th inning — paving the way for Mookie Betts' game-breaking three-run homer immediately thereafter, setting up the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-2 victory — the largest Angel Stadium crowd of the season jeered loudly.

Shohei Ohtani was welcomed back warmly in his first official game back in Anaheim, save for some sparse boos.

It helped that at least half the 44,731 people in attendance were Dodgers fans who made the 30-mile trek south.

«As a player, I feel very supported and appreciative of all the fans that are in front of me, in front of the team,» Ohtani said through an interpreter. «It makes a difference that they're out here.»

As an Angel, the organization he chose after being recruited out of Japan by practically every major league team, Ohtani won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2018 and later tapped into his promise as a two-way phenomenon. He won two MVPs unanimously and would've won a third if not for Aaron Judge's 62-homer season from 2021 to 2023, during which Ohtani easily paced the majors with 26.1 FanGraphs wins above replacement.

The Angels never sniffed the playoffs during Ohtani's six-year tenure. But they empowered him to pitch and hit simultaneously the way no one ever had since Babe Ruth, and there was a belief by prominent people within the organization that his loyalty to the Angels would give them a legitimate chance to re-sign him in free agency.

But when Ohtani and the Dodgers put together the