Dodgers announcer points out Shohei Ohtani shift that escalates Padres rivalry

Fans likely haven't forgotten the moment in June when tensions came to a boil in the National League West rivalry between Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Shohei Ohtani certainly hasn't forgotten, either.

Ohtani took a 100 mph fastball to his shoulder blade half an inning after Fernando Tatis Jr. had been plunked by a pitch. But although the ball came from Robert Suarez's hand, the message came from then-Padres manager Mike Shildt.

Both managers, a bench coach and Suarez were all ejected from that game following the fracas that ensued when Tatis was hit earlier in the inning. Suarez, Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts were all issued suspensions. But the tensions didn't end there.

According to Dodgers announcer Stephen Nelson, Ohtani made a notable change to his routine after that game in order to send the Padres a message.

“If you watch Shohei Ohtani at the start of every game, his first plate appearance, he walks to the plate and he tips his helmet to the opposing dugout and then he does his salute,” Nelson said during a recent segment on ESPN LA. “There is only one team and one manager that he stopped doing that for, and that was Mike Shildt and the San Diego Padres after what happened at Dodger Stadium where they threw up and in and hit him with Suarez at 100 in the back.”

Ohtani is famously consistent with his gestures of respect. He tips his helmet to opposing dugouts because he genuinely believes in honoring the game. So when the most respected and universally admired player in baseball intentionally changes his behavior for exactly one team and one manager, that’s headline-level fuel. Everyone notices.

This isn’t a random feud. It’s Ohtani saying, “You don’t respect the game? I’m not giving you the courtesy.”

No analytics. No subtext. It’s personal.

The origin story makes it even spicier. The June 19 incident — Suarez buzzing Ohtani with what looked like a Shildt-ordered message pitch — is the kind of thing star players don’t forget. If a pitcher crosses Ohtani, fine. If a manager orchestrates it? That’s a different universe.

For Ohtani, this wasn’t just one bad pitch. It was institutional disrespect. From that moment on, he made a point: Shildt would no longer get the gesture reserved for managers. In baseball’s unwritten-rule politics, that’s louder than a postgame quote.

Shohei Ohtani's cold war with San Diego's clubhouse leader escalates Dodgers-Padres rivalry

The Padres have always been the “little brother” in this rivalry, even when they briefly seized the spotlight from 2020–22. Ohtani’s silent protest revived that dynamic, suggesting that he didn't think the Padres' manager was worth acknowledging. He wasn't simply ignoring the Padres; he was choosing to snub them.

Players come and go. Managers define culture. When your superstar refuses to acknowledge an opposing team’s cultural leader, it becomes a philosophical war –– Los Angeles' professionalism vs. San Diego's edge, Roberts' respect-based clubhouse vs. Shildt's chip-on-your-shoulder style. That contrast animates every inning.

Let’s be honest: Dodgers-Padres has always flirted with being a real rivalry, but it rarely has the sustained venom of Yankees-Red Sox or Giants-Dodgers. But this? This is sustained venom. A cold war between the sport’s biggest superstar and San Diego’s dugout boss is exactly the kind of long-term personal grudge that rivalries need to feel real.

And if the Padres ever fire back or target Ohtani again in the post-Shildt era? Boom — it becomes generational.

The Dodgers-Padres rivalry is no longer about payroll flexing or NL West standings. It has a face. It has a villain. It has an inciting incident. And it now has Ohtani, the sport’s most respected ambassador, silently declaring that San Diego is different –– and not in a good way.