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TORONTO — When the Toronto Blue Jays played against the Los Angeles Angels at Rogers Centre a few years ago, Lise Hawkins and a few of her friends wore two shirts, one on top of another.
Each was sporting a shirt that paid tribute to L.A.’s Shohei Ohtani, but they took it off once the game got underway to reveal a Blue Jays jersey underneath and show their loyalty to Toronto’s beloved team.
Hawkins, a member of Ohtani’s Canadian fan club, said she mostly cheered for the Jays but occasionally chanted for the Japanese baseball star when he was batting.
“I think it confused a lot of people, but it was just a very joyful moment where we were celebrating both things that we love, the Toronto Blue Jays and Shohei Ohtani,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Ohtani, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, will soon land in Toronto again for their World Series matchup with the Blue Jays that kicks off on Friday. While some of his Canadian fans may feel divided, many of them say they will still cheer for the home team.
The Blue Jays were strong contenders to sign the two-way superstar in free agency before he agreed to a record 10-year, US$700-million contract with the Dodgers in 2023. Speculation that Ohtani was about to sign with the Jays hit feverish levels in December of that year amid reports that he was on a Toronto-bound private jet, which social media users tracked for hours, only to realize that it was not true.
Hawkins, a former teacher, has been a lifelong supporter of the Blue Jays and said she became a fan of Ohtani when the team made its first attempt to recruit him in 2017.
“The Ohtani fan club started at that time as a way of courting him to let him know, ‘Look, there’s all this love of you in the city of Toronto,’” she said, adding that Ohtani’s fans in Toronto were “hugely disappointed” knowing he chose another team over the Jays for a second time in 2023.
“Not anger at him, not resentment, nothing like that at all, just sheer disappointment,” she said.
Hawkins said she and other members of the fan club may not be able to attend the World Series games at the Rogers Centre because tickets are too expensive, but they will likely visit the stadium before Game 1 starts just to interact with other baseball fans.
“I am a Toronto Blue Jays fan, but I am an Ohtani fan – I’m not a Dodgers fan,” she said. “But in terms of my loyal following for a baseball team, I would still be aligned with the Toronto Blue Jays.”
The Blue Jays have won the World Series twice, in 1992 and 1993, and are now looking to lift the trophy for the third time.
Christine Takasaki, a program co-ordinator at the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre in Toronto, said she has respect for what Ohtani has achieved as a player, but she has been a Blue Jays fan almost her entire life – and that’s not going to change.
Takasaki said while the Jays have all the talent they need to defeat the Dodgers and win the World Series, having Ohtani in the lineup would have made it easier to win the title.
“If Ohtani had come here, it would have been, you know, a completely different team but it would have been an absolute amazing boon for the Toronto,” she said.
“He is a great player. He is fantastic … What he’s doing is unprecedented, you know, to be able to pitch at the level that he’s pitching and to be able to play and be a hitter at the (level).”
Blue Jays have had some miraculous comebacks this season, including in the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners. The Jays lost the two first games in Toronto before evening things out in Seattle and eventually finishing the job back at the Rogers Centre on Monday night.
“It’s stressful to watch, but it’s incredible that they’re able to, you know, keep themselves in the game,” Takasaki said.
Jaeden Sasaki, a former Triple-A baseball player who is a fan of both the Blue Jays and Ohtani, said he will cheer for his home team.
“I’m very loyal to my city, so it has to be the Toronto Blue Jays, they’re just a great team and I think they deserve to win the series,” he said.
Sasaki said he got to know more about the Japanese legend when the Blue Jays were courting him two years ago.
“I’m very excited to see him play in Toronto,” he said. “I hope he doesn’t go too hard on the Blue Jays.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
