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In the chaos that follows every Los Angeles Dodgers victory, the stadium sound system blares a rousing version of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” to the delight of the Chavez Ravine faithful.

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With a 2-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the World Series, that feeling is running high as the best-of-seven showdown moves to the Bronx for Game 3 on Monday.

And this feeling is especially true for players who call Hollywood home.

Most notable of this group, of course, is Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani whose admiration for the Dodgers (and the court that followed) allowed him to land the richest contract in sports history while ‘bringing quickly to the greatest stage it has now reached.

Hindsight strongly suggests that Ohtani, who suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday’s 4-2 Game 2 victory, never went anywhere other than Los Angeles. Oh, I’m sure there was some minor level of sincerity in the generational talent’s flirtation with the Blue Jays, but after 10 months of withdrawal, it seems like it was just a clever move for the generational talent and his camp to extract more from the Dodgers.

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Shohei Ohtani loves Los Angeles and Los Angeles loves him back.

As intriguing as this Fall Classic game was, a snapshot of the World Series contenders only accentuates everything that eluded the Jays.

FOX graphics flashed like a Hollywood marquee everywhere – Yankees Aaron Judge and his 58 home runs versus Ohtani and his 54, the two most in MLB. And given all the electrifying long balls this postseason, this scenario further mystifies Jays general manager Ross Atkins’ dismissive comments that home runs are “low-hanging fruit” as an offensive solution.

Then there’s the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez, the big bat who not only got away from the Jays, but was struck out against a modest return from reliever Erik Swanson and still minor leaguer Adam Macko. As demoralizing (and franchise-altering) as the lack of Ohtani was at the time, Hernandez’s success two years later is a real rubbing of fans’ noses in the sandbox of the franchise’s offensive woes.

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Atkins has repeatedly made it clear that a power bat has minimal value to him, infuriating Jays fans who see Hernandez performing as the No. 3 hitter in one of baseball’s best lineups and hitting repeatedly hitting key home runs in big spots like he did with Saturday’s two-run blast.

For punctuation, remember that Hernandez’s final act in a Toronto uniform was hitting two home runs in a playoff game, that terrible collapse against the Mariners at Rogers Center two fall ago.

Moving on to the Yankees, Juan Soto’s performance throughout 2024 is another blow to the Jays during the mild offseason a year ago. Even if there were rumors that Soto was a trade candidate for the Jays, that would never happen either.

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A year ago, the Yankees were not a playoff team and approached the offseason in a way that wisely aggressive front offices do: spending boldly and correctly. They may not be the Dodgers yet, but they are AL East and American League champions.

Recognizing that things can change quickly in baseball, the Jays still feel like a last place team with a ton of work to do first to get out of the basement and become a wildcard team, let alone a winner of division.

Back to Ohtani: In an interview with FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt before Game 1, the Dodgers DH was clear about what he loved most about Los Angeles. He loves living there, of course, after being a member of the irresponsible, perennially non-playoff Angels. But more importantly, he loves the idea of ​​winning and saw in the Dodgers an organization poised to build a lasting dynasty, a franchise that has now won the NL West 11 in the last 12 seasons.

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Could Ohtani have the same record with the Jays? His own handicap would have suggested not and 10 months since he signed his US$700 million contract have proven it. The Jays have clearly regressed in terms of performance and talent. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a more precipitous shopping fall into the Ohtani stratosphere than landing Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and, for poops and giggles, Daniel Vogelbach.

Now, another critical offseason awaits Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro, who likely still have plenty of Rogers’ loot at their disposal. This will bring additional burden since future free agents and their representatives will be able to approach the process in the same manner as Ohtani. If a player values ​​winning as much as money, the sale becomes more difficult.

Regardless after the World Series ends next weekend, the Jays front office is truly listening as it faces what could be its toughest offseason yet. For a franchise that recently seemed so close to taking it to the next level – as the hashtag intended – the bright lights of the NY-LA showdown seem as far away as they’ve ever been.

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