Shohei Ohtani, Angels fans can get ‘closure’ in slugger’s return to Big A with Dodgers, Roberts says

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani has returned to the stadium and the city where he did just about everything except win.

The two-way superstar was back at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night for his first regular-season game as a visitor with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani left the Angels as a free agent last winter after six losing seasons, making a move that has taken him a whole lot farther than just those 30 miles up the I-5 freeway from Anaheim to Los Angeles.

After becoming a baseball sensation despite playing for the perpetually struggling Angels, Ohtani is now on the best team in the majors. While the Halos trudge to the end of yet another season as one of the worst teams in the big leagues, Ohtani is just a few weeks away from his MLB postseason debut.

But first, he’ll suit up for two games in the visitors’ clubhouse at the stadium where his transcendent presence was the most exciting thing about six otherwise grim years of Angels baseball.

“I think it’s going to be special for everyone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “Just speaking for Shohei, it might be a little bit of closure, in the sense of it was such a great time here in Anaheim, as far as getting with the fans. They’ll get a chance to show their appreciation tonight. It will be a nice moment, but I know he’s excited to be a Dodger and competing for a championship.”

Exactly one year to the day after his final appearance for the Angels, Ohtani was in his usual spot as the Dodgers’ leadoff batter and designated hitter when the Freeway Series began in Anaheim.