Woody Paige: Ohtani just might treat Rox fans to a show next weekend

OH!TANI SHO!TIME in LoDo next weekend.

Be still our hearts. There will be fireworks Friday, folks! There might be Spectacular Saturday, spell-bound spectators! There could be Blake Street Boombastic, baseball believers, on Sunday!

60!-60!

Thousands of tickets – ranging from a low of $10 to a high of $725 -- remain on sale on the primary and secondary markets for the three-game season-ending series.

In Our Dusty Old Cowtown that has been a host to such world-famous visiting professional athletes as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Pele, David Beckham, Julius “Dr. J’’ Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gordie Howe, Joe Namath, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Walter Payton, Ken Griffey Jr., Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, please add one more prominent name:

Shohei Ohtani. He’s about to be back.

The Japanese super-duper star for the Dodgers is scheduled to play at Cape Canaveral Coors Field for the 12th time Friday night.

He produced the most memorable regular-season game performance in Major Baseball League history Thursday in Miami with three home runs, six base hits (and five extra-base hits in six at-bats), 10 runs batted in and two stolen bases. Ohtani became the first player ever to reach and surpass a 50-homer, 50-steal milestone. Only 15,000 attended the Dodgers blowout.

In his next game Friday night against the Rockies at Dodgers Stadium Shohei added his 52nd home run and 52nd stolen base. The Dodgers-Rox series continued late Saturday night and will conclude Sunday afternoon. The Dodgers then meet the National League West’s second-place Padres in three games in Los Angeles, then . . .

The regular season concludes Friday, Saturday and Sunday in lower downtown Denver.

Go, Padres. Go, Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers have clinched a post-season position with a 92-62 record in the standings Saturday morning, but not the division title. The Padres are 88-66 with two more games over the weekend against the weak, woeful White Sox. The Diamondbacks, at 86-68, are in the wild card chase and wind it up against the Giants and the Padres.

If L.A. is able to secure first place before coming to Colorado, full-time DH Ohtani, who turned 30 on July 5 in his first season with the Dodgers, might not participate in a game on two against the sad-sack Rox.

So, if the Dodgers haven’t staved off the Padres and/or the Diamondbacks by Saturday, he definitely would play all three games.

And, of course, the matter of 54-54, 57-55 or – guess what? – 60-60, a precious number in baseball lore, could be in the offering, and manager Dave Roberts would give Ohtani a chance to boost the record.

Obviously, Coloradans and others from parts unknown won’t want to miss Ohtani’s finish. Nobody’s saying “Boycott the Rockies final homestand.’’ The first game is a sure sellout because people here love fireworks night.

Saturday has a special double whammy. The game long ago was labeled “Harry Potter Night’’ for some ludicrous reason. The last movie in the series was 13 years ago. Also, the Rox announced recently that the franchise is dumping the Colorado license plate green-and-white look for a fresh “City Connect’’ uniform next season. Saturday night thankfully would be the last game for the softball beer-league outfit.

If the Rockies’ owner and organization were smart, which they’ve never been appraised as, the Sunday finale would be proclaimed “Shohei Salute Game’’, and 50,000 Ohtani Bobblehead dolls would be dispersed – as everyone beyond the foul lines hope to catch a home run and everyone else wishes to see steals. Both the ball and the base are headed to Cooperstown.

In his seven seasons since arriving in America, Ohtani has made just seven regular-season appearances here in 2018, ’20 and ’23 with the Angels and four games in June this year with the Dodgers. He has a .375 batting average with three homers, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored in Denver. As a pitcher, previously Shohei was 1-0 against the Rockies.

Plus, in the 2021 All-Star game at Coors Field, Ohtani was the AL’s starting pitcher and didn’t permit a hit in his one inning. He was 0-2 at the plate.

But it is well to remember that in the Home Run Derby, Ohtani’s only one, Ohtani slammed 28 out of the ballpark while finally losing by three in a second swing-off with Juan Soto.

He launched one missile 513 feet into the right-field seats. (In batting practice he crushed a ball to the upper deck.)

Everybody except the Rockies, who are trying to avoid 100 losses again, will be craving for Shohei to play all three games and hit a hoard of homers.

Oh-Ohtani! It’s Sho-Time!