Some things never change, not for Shohei Ohtani at least. Shohei Ohtani arrived in Anaheim on Monday for the three-game series against his former club—the Los Angeles Angels. After the Angels handed their crosstown rivals a 6–5 defeat on Wednesday night, they completed their first sweep of the season. They had all the reasons to celebrate, and for the same reason, they started with a nudge straight at their former star. The Angels leaned on a meme that has long been centered around their former star.

Some background might help you here. It goes back to 2021 when Ohtani used to play for the Halos. A fan, @matttomic, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share about the historic feat of Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. “Every time I see an Angels highlight, it’s like, ‘Mike Trout hit three home runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn’t been done since ‘Tungsten Arm’ O’Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen.” The user had said this right after the Tigers handed the Angels an 8-3 loss that time.

The depth of this longtime joke lies in the absurdity. Tungsten Arm O’Doyle isn’t real. It is just a term solely used to convey the rarity of Ohtani’s achievements as time passes. Still, regardless of the history and records that Ohtani made with the Angels, they couldn’t avoid the losses.

Now, the joke has surfaced again, and this time via the Los Angeles Angels themselves. They cheekily noted on social media, “something something Tungsten Arm O’Doyle something something and the Angels win 6-5.” As it seems, the Angels were just too happy to complete their first six-game Freeway Series season sweep.

On Wednesday specifically, there was phenomenal energy at Angel Stadium when Ohtani pitched against the Angels for the first time in his career. He pitched 4.1 innings and struck out seven batters. However, he also ended up allowing four runs on five hits.

It happens to be the most he has allowed in one outing this season. Most notably, back on Monday night, during the eighth inning, he launched a solo home run, which marked his 100th hit at Angel Stadium. Yet, it couldn’t do enough to stop the Dodgers’ ongoing struggles.

Ohtani breaks the silence amidst the Dodgers’ struggles

The Dodgers are currently below the first-place San Diego Padres in the NL West. It marks the first time since April 27th that the Dodgers have sat outside of first place. On Friday, the Dodgers are hosting the first-place club for the three-game series. However, the Dodgers are yet to recover from their sweep at Anaheim.

After the sweep, Ohtani opened up about the feeling of consecutive losses. “It doesn’t feel good to fall into second place and to lose a lot of these games,” he admitted. For the first time this season, the Dodgers had cleared him to pitch into the fifth inning.

Ohtani further revealed that the club is doing all that is in its power. From close meetings to regular practices, they are doing their best to do a “better job.” After Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts somehow still managed to look at the positives of the game despite the poor outcome. He admitted that the loss was tough to handle, but he also said, “I liked the way we played.”

After the game, Roberts also reported to the media that he doesn’t expect the club to push Ohtani any further for the remainder of the season. Their priorities have been straight since Ohtani’s pitching debut: the Dodgers want to make sure he’s healthy. After all, they’re saving the best for the playoffs, like any other club would do.