Shohei Ohtani rule controversy poisons epic Dodgers-Blue Jays World Series yet again

Shohei Ohtani took the mound on just four days' rest to pitch the game of his career thus far: Game 7 of the World Series.

Ohtani's last outing in Game 4 was going decently until the top of the seventh, when he gave up a leadoff single and then a double to follow. Both runners eventually scored on hits given up by Anthony Banda. It brought Toronto's lead to 4-1 after a two-run homer from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off of Ohtani.

In Game 7, Ohtani started the game off with a scoreless inning on the mound after hitting a leadoff single in the first.

But took Ohtani a long time to warm up when he took the mound for the bottom of the inning. As FOX's broadcast was coming back from commercial break, ready for first pitch, Ohtani had yet to throw his first warmup pitch. A three(ish) minute delay commenced until the inning got underway.

The same thing happened in the top of the second, and then the third. Between innings, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was seen in mildly heated conversation with the crew chief Mark Wegner and, in a later replay, tapping his watch as Ohtani tossed.

Blue Jays took exception to how long it took Shohei Ohtani to warm up in Game 7 Dodgers start

To be fair, Ohtani's warmup was about as long as a commercial break, so it's somewhat understandable that Schneider and Blue Jays fans would be miffed.

But this is Shohei Ohtani. And, per MLB's own rules, umpires can give a pitcher extra time to warm up at their discretion. The official language is "if warranted by special circumstances." If there was ever a special circumstance, it's Ohtani's.

FOX brought on former MLB umpire Mark Carlson to explain: given that Ohtani was on base by the end of the first, and then was the last out of the second, the umpires were at liberty to give him extra time to warm up.

Blue Jays fans shouldn't be complaining anyway, especially when Ohtani's long warm up didn't help him at all in the third. He had been missing his control through the first two innings, but he gave up a leadoff single, the Blue Jays went to a sacrifice bunt to move George Springer to second, and then he threw a wild pitch to get Springer to third.

The Dodgers intentionally walked Guerrero, and Bo Bichette made them pay with a two-run single.

Still, it was a ridiculous complaint — but then again, Blue Jays fans are always looking for something to complain about.