Dodgers manager Dave Roberts surprises Shohei Ohtani with unique gift for his daughter

Reigning National League MVP Shohei Ohtani became a father for the first time after his wife Mamiko Tanaka gave birth to a daughter on April 19. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a special gift for Ohtani's daughter.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Dave Roberts revealed a unique gift for Shohei Ohtani's daughter. As the Japanese slugger arrived in the clubhouse, Roberts surprised him with a mini pink Porche.

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"Doc and his wife bought Shohei’s daughter a brand new car… kind of. 😂," the Instagram post was captioned.

Roberts said in the video: "I have a gift for you. Actually, for your daughter. Little bit of a joke but a sincere one. This is going to be your daughter's first car."

"For my daughter?" Ohtani responded. "Thank you."

Ohtani and Roberts have an ongoing joke related to toy cars. It started when the Dodgers manager asked the All-Star slugger for a Porsche after Ohtani broke his record for most home runs by a Japanese player for the Dodgers.

The two-way phenom obliged by gifting him a purple toy Porche. Earlier this year during Spring Training, Ohtani swapped Roberts' car with a toy Porche in the parking lot in a prank.

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Shohei Ohtani grabbed the headlines after he gifted Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly's wife, Ashley, a Porsche after her husband gave up his No. 17 for the incoming Japanese slugger.

Dave Roberts acknowledged running joke with Shohei Ohtani

After gifting a toy Porche to Shohei Ohtani's daughter ahead of Wednesday's game against the New York Mets, Dave Roberts acknowledged their running joke that started since Ohtani's arrival in LA.

"That was a present from me and my wife to Shohei's baby," Roberts said on Wednesday. "We have a little running practical joke situation going on, but this was a gift for the baby."

When Ohtani was called in the clubhouse on Wednesday, the Japanese slugger thought he was in trouble.

"I thought I'm in trouble," Ohtani said with a laugh.

It will be interesting to see how Ohtani responds to Roberts' latest move in their ongoing toy-car saga.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash