LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani came bearing gifts on Saturday. He arrived knowing his next home run would be a meaningful one. The “history” at stake was more of the fun-fact variety, but the Los Angeles Dodgers star saw an opportunity.

No Japanese-born player in Dodgers history had more home runs for the franchise than Dave Roberts, Ohtani’s new manager. Roberts, the former speedy outfielder slugged seven long balls in his 1,043 at-bats with Los Angeles. The fact delighted Ohtani so much that as the designated hitter completed his first month with his new club, he’d bring up his pursuit of that mark in conversation. Roberts added to the fun, goading his new superstar and making a quip whenever Ohtani hit one to the warning track this past week. Roberts openly pondered the gifts he’d receive when Ohtani inevitably broke the mark.

“I need a new car,” Roberts said, alluding to the $700 million man’s sponsorship deal with Porsche.

So Ohtani brought him a car, sort of. He was stoic as he strode into his manager’s office before Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves and then revealed the gift: a mauve toy Porsche Panamera. It was the same model car that Ohtani had gifted Joe Kelly’s wife, Ashley, back in December for the rights to the No. 17 (though Kelly…

There are many unanswered questions surrounding the betting scandal involving Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. What we do know, though, is Mizuhara wasn’t just an interpreter. He was Ohtani’s right-hand man, his catch partner, his liaison for on –and off– the field matters because the most successful interpreter-player relationships are built on one thing: unrelenting trust.

“It’s such a big part (of the job),” Mizuhara told The Athletic last summer of establishing a close connection. “We are together pretty much every day, longer than I’m with my wife, so it’s going to be tough if you don’t get along on a personal level.”

The Mizuhara-Ohtani relationship — the pair worked out together on Christmas – was perhaps extreme, but the role of interpreters in baseball has evolved significantly over the years. Interpreters are in dugouts, team meetings and have carte blanche into the life of a professional baseball team. It’s not impossible to imagine a scenario where Mizuhara had access to Ohtani’s finances, as interpreters are often tasked with off-the-field errands like picking up food or dry cleaning.

So what exactly do interpreters in Major League Baseball do on a daily basis? And how do you get the gig?…

Shortly after haggling his way out of free-agent purgatory and into a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kiké Hernández asked his wife, Mariana, to investigate another market. She contacted former Dodger Rich Hill’s wife, Caitlin, with a request: Could the Hernándezes live in the Hills’ house again? 

The Hills had bought the property, located in the Toluca Lake neighborhood, in 2017, soon after Rich signed a $48 million contract. The family decided not to sell it after Hill’s final season with the team in 2019. The house has since become a popular destination among Dodgers personnel. Catcher Austin Barnes lived there one season. Manager Dave Roberts has inquired about its availability. When Hernández rejoined the team at last year’s trade deadline, he moved into the house, which is a convenient 20-minute drive from Dodger Stadium, with access to three different highways. 

“It’s very appealing, because of the location,” Hill said. 

But that’s not its only selling point; almost as important is that the homeowner understands his tenants’ nomadic baseball lifestyle.

When searching for a place to live, players often rely upon each other’s recommendations, connections, and familiarity with baseball’s unique schedule and travel. That has led to a…

Shohei Ohtani has yet to debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he already has a ring — a wedding ring.

The two-way superstar, who is notoriously private about his personal life, revealed the news on Instagram early Thursday morning. He said his wife is Japanese, but he didn’t provide her name or any details about his wedding.

“Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also have began a new life with someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married,” Ohtani said. “I am excited for what is come and thank you for your support.”

Ohtani, whose statement is in Japanese, said he would share more information in an interview, according to the Associated Press.

The 29-year-old’s Instagram post featured a photo of his dog, Dekopin, whose American name is Decoy.

“We hope the two of us — and one animal — will work together,” Ohtani wrote, per the AP.

This isn’t the first time Ohtani has abruptly revealed major news on Instagram. In December, he announced on the social media platform that he signed with the Dodgers, ending feverish speculation about his landing spot in free agency. Ohtani’s agency, CAA, later said he agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract with the club.

The Hall of Fame is made for players like Adrián Beltré. As a pure hitter, reliable slugger and slick third baseman, Beltré had few peers: No other infielder in the history of baseball has 3,000 hits, 400 homers and five Gold Glove awards. Beltré, now 44, was a lock for the Hall of Fame.

As a first-time Cooperstown candidate, Beltré did not need to follow the breathless tracking of public ballots this winter. Yet he still could not feel secure, he said, until his wife and son assured him on Tuesday that election day looked promising. He could savor it.

“That made me relax a little bit more, and I kind of forced myself to try to enjoy this moment,” Beltré said from his home in Southern California, moments after achieving his sport’s greatest honor. “It was going to be a nice moment, and probably the last moment in baseball that I was going to accomplish, being at the pinnacle of the game.”

Beltré had company at the summit on Tuesday, with Todd Helton and Joe Mauer joining him in the new class of Hall of Famers. Former manager Jim Leyland, elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last month, will also be inducted at the ceremony July 21.

Candidates must receive 75 percent of the ballots from 10-year members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of…

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 25-year-old free-agent star pitcher from Japan, dined on Saturday night at the Connecticut home of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, league sources confirmed.

It’s believed that the dinner went well, with the participants enjoying the hospitality and free-flowing conversation leading to a generally good connection. During the meeting, the Mets were again able to share with Yamamoto why they believe they’d be the right spot for him. The Cohens hosted Yamamoto seemingly in hopes of offering a nice, personal touch, one that may help distinguish the Mets from the other clubs locked in competition for the righthander’s services.

The in-person meeting, first reported by the New York Post, was the latest example of Cohen and the Mets doing whatever it takes to try and land Yamamoto, the highest-ranked (No. 3) unsigned free agent on The Athletic’s Top 40 free agent big board. Earlier this month, Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto.

Stearns, manager Carlos Mendoza, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and Cohen’s wife, Alex, also attended the dinner. Meanwhile, Yamamoto brought his own translator. Overall, the meeting was a step forward for the Mets, who have put Yamamoto at the top of their list of…

LOS ANGELES — The moment was brief yet will carry in Evan Phillips’ heart forever. His wife, Liz, had spent much of the afternoon in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, waiting as the Dodgers closed out a Mother’s Day win against the Padres. Only after the ballpark emptied did she enter.

But there they were. A photographer accompanied them to commemorate the moment. It’s still surreal to them that Phillips is here. More than a year after being designated for assignment and on his third organization in a matter of weeks, he is one of the premier relievers in sport. He is the bullpen ace for a club with true World Series aspirations. Since the start of last season, no reliever with more than 80 innings of work has a lower ERA than Phillips’ 1.51.

This was a different kind of “pinch-me” moment. Together, they held their newborn son, Beau.

“There’s nothing better than being his father,” Phillips said recently, grinning at the prospect of his first Father’s Day. “I genuinely feel changed.”

He just wasn’t expecting Beau to arrive so soon. As the Dodgers boarded a flight to Chicago in late April, Phillips went back over their list of emergency contacts. It was the last trip Phillips would be on without anyone there to stay with a pregnant Liz and help get…

CHICAGO — Mookie Betts had a race against the clock and felt every last bit of it in the heart of the Dan Ryan Expressway.

He and his wife, Brianna, had welcomed their second child, a boy, this week. Yet there the club’s $365 million man was, in a rush to get to Wrigley Field in time for the Dodgers to return the former MVP to the active roster from paternity leave. For about 40 minutes, he sat in traffic some 3 miles from the ballpark, talking to Freddie Freeman on the phone trying to get an estimated time of arrival — even while living in Los Angeles and knowing how fickle those can be.

With assistance in the form of an hour-long rain delay that pushed back the start of Thursday night’s game, he made it just around the first pitch. He quickly changed into his uniform and popped up in the dugout just after 8 p.m., about an hour and a half after the originally scheduled first pitch.

Within a few hours, he again found himself somewhere new, a place manager Dave Roberts had broached publicly this week and that the Dodgers had discussed internally since Gavin Lux tore his ACL in March.

For the first time in his 1,131 games as a big leaguer, Betts stood at shortstop. Despite coming up as an infielder, he hadn’t even played shortstop in spot duty since he was a fresh-faced…

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and other team officials spoke Wednesday for the first time about the organization’s decision to release pitcher Trevor Bauer in January.

“With the way that things transpired,” Friedman said, “we feel good about our decision to move on.”

The organization has said little on the matter since July 2021, when Bauer was placed on paid administrative leave after a San Diego woman accused him of sexual assault. Dodgers officials have continued to be limited in their comments, even after releasing Bauer in the wake of his reinstatement following the longest suspension in the history of baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. The team’s silence stemmed in part from the collective bargaining agreement’s language surrounding clubs discussing active free agents.

Bauer has denied any wrongdoing. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declined to bring charges against Bauer last February. Over the summer, two other women alleged similar interactions with Bauer in the past, as first reported by the Washington Post.

Bauer remains unsigned as Friedman, club president Stan Kasten and general manager Brandon Gomes addressed reporters Wednesday, detailing a signing that has…

For as much as the Dodgers will hope to distance themselves from Trevor Bauer, opting on Friday to designate the right-hander for assignment rather than reinstate him from suspension, in many ways the damage has already been done.

Bauer has completed a 194-game suspension, the longest baseball has ever handed out under its joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy, after a San Diego woman accused Bauer of sexual assault. The allegations stemmed from a pair of encounters that began as consensual and, the woman said, turned violent. Over the summer, two other women alleged similar interactions with Bauer in the past, as first reported by the Washington Post. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to bring charges against Bauer in February. Bauer has denied any wrongdoing.

The Dodgers, in finalizing their decision, met with Bauer on Thursday for the first time since he was placed on paid administrative leave in July 2021. Bauer alleged in a statement that in meeting with Dodgers officials they “told me that they wanted me to return and pitch for the team this year.” A Dodgers official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said that claim is inaccurate and no such desire was expressed. No Dodgers officials were made available…