Boxer Mike Tyson presented the ESPY award for best single-game performance to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on July 15. Just don’t ask him who Shohei Ohtani plays for, what sport he plays, or even apparently what gender Shohei Ohtani is.

After (somewhat) correctly pronouncing Ohtani’s name, Tyson turned to co-presented Logan Paul to make sure he got it right.

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“Shohei could not be here tonight,” Tyson said. “He sends his gratitude and appreciation to ESPN and everyone who voted for him,” Paul said.

“Shohei’s a guy?” Tyson said, turning to Paul.

Tyson, 60, certainly would be forgiven for not following MLB on a regular basis. He sparred with Ted Barrett before Barrett became a major league umpire. Other than that, the Tyson/MLB concentric circles are separate.

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It’s at least somewhat surprising that Ohtani’s name never reached Tyson’s ears. Ohtani is at least the game’s best player today, if not ever. His single-game performance against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series was one for the ages.

Ohtani threw six shutout innings against the Brewers as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, and went 3 for 3 with three home runs at the plate. Tyson said it himself: it was an award-winning performance.

The game basically clinched the NLCS MVP Award for Ohtani. Now it’s been honored across multiple sports.

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Ohtani was also nominated for the ESPY award for best male athlete, an honor which might convince Tyson of Ohtani’s gender once and for all.

Baseball players rarely attend the ESPYs ceremony to receive their awards in person. The ceremony is traditionally held during MLB’s All-Star break, giving ESPN the night’s major live sports programming all to itself, but making it hard for the top MLB stars to attend.

Ohtani at least had no obvious prior obligations. He did not attend All-Star festivities in Philadelphia because of a irritation in his left knee. Perhaps he and Tyson can schedule a gentleman’s handshake down the road.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will once again be one of the most heavily represented teams at the Midsummer Classic, sending a star-studded group to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game as they continue to pace the National League.

Official 2026 MLB All-Star Game & Home Run Derby gear is available now for purchase.

The defending World Series champions have six All-Stars heading to Philadelphia: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Andy Pages, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Justin Wrobleski.

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Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy, and Pages were voted into the National League starting lineup, while Yamamoto earned a pitching selection after another dominant first half. Wrobleski was later added as a replacement, giving the Dodgers one of the largest All-Star contingents in baseball.

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The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with the best record in Major League Baseball, and their strong showing in Philadelphia reflects another impressive first half on both sides of the ball. With multiple starters taking the field and manager Dave Roberts leading the National League, Los Angeles will once again have a major presence on baseball’s biggest summer stage before turning its focus to another postseason run.

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The Detroit Tigers have played much better baseball recently to climb back into the American League playoff chase. It will still take some doing for the team to overcome a dreadful start and get into the postseason. Not many people believe that the reigning American League Cy Young winner will be around to see if the Tigers can accomplish that because is is clearly the most coveted commodity for other teams as the MLB trade deadline nears. Even though Skubal has made it clear that he wants to stick around the Motor City for at least a little longer.

We’ll soon have resolution on his immediate future. And whichever franchise gets to send him out to the mound every five days will be thrilled. He’s a fan favorite in Detroit despite all the drama of the last several months and if he got a new home, those fans would go berserk.

Skubal at the trade deadline

ESPN’s baseball insider Jeff Passan added his insight into the biggest trade deadline character and question on Monday’s “Get Up”, along the way revealing which team is most likely to acquire his services.

“If there’s a team that’s gonna go get Tarik SKubal, … it is the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Passan said.

Such a development would not sit well with 29 other fanbases. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 61-36 and are seeking their third straight World Series. Throw a dart at their roster and it’s likely to hit an All-Star.

“They can pretty much do what they want at this point,” Passan said before pointing out that the team has been active and not so active during previous trade deadlines during their dynastic run.

Skubal’s future

Look, I’m a Tigers fan and believe Skubal is going to stay in Detroit. But if he does land with the Dodgers, crushing my team’s hopes and only making Los Angeles more of a wagon, then so be it. The Dodgers can do pretty much anything they want at this point and still win a World Series. It’s downright scary to think of how many of those they could string together if they got Skubal’s services for years to come.

The reason there’s no reason to let what the Dodgers do get under your skin is because it’s so competent. It feels like an overwhelming majority of sports fans spend their lives decrying local ownership and all the boneheaded decisions that are made. We suffer because organizations can’t figure it out and never put a premium on winning. So why be made at the one who has perfected it?

Of course that’s easy for me to say now. Check back a few hours after Skubal to the Dodgers becomes a reality and you’ll likely find a broken man.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were swept for the first time all season long just before the All-Star break by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers have looked like a shell of themselves over the last three games, seemingly suffering from a lack of focus with the All-Star break so close.

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Also, LA is ahead in the division by more than 10 games, giving them a cushion to breathe and not push too hard.

On Sunday, the Dodgers took a 5-3 loss despite leading for most of the game, until two bad innings of errant pitching and defensive mistakes.

The Dodgers have definitely made the most of their lead, taking their foot off the gas to lose 23-8 combined against Arizona.

What has gone wrong for the Dodgers?

Just about everything that can go wrong has for the Dodgers during their last series of the first half of the season.

The Dodgers made multiple errors during the series, and the pitching was lackluster from both the bullpen and the rotation, while the offense failed to put together sustained stretches of offense.

Andy Pages made an error that he usually never makes on a fly ball, while Max Muncy has continued a stretch where he makes the wrong read defensively.

The team had three hits on Sunday and six on Saturday, with most of the runs coming from home runs rather than the sustained pressure the team usually applies.

Among other strengths, the Dodgers have been really good at moving on from bad games — the main reason for their lack of sweep up until now — but for the first time all year, they failed to get past a rough game or two.

Who played well for the Dodgers?

Shohei Ohtani, even with some knee discomfort lingering in the background, had a good series.

He hit two home runs, went four-for-11 from the plate, and looked good swinging the bat and making plate appearances.

Additionally, Emmet Sheehan had a good start, allowing just one earned run in a 5.1 innings-pitched start. He got seven strikeouts, allowed one walk, and allowed only three hits.

The Dodgers do not play a game until Friday, when they host the New York Yankees in a blockbuster series.

They will need this week to get things ironed out, reset, and get healthy for the big sprint in the second part of July.