Meet Baby Shohei? These parents named their kids after Dodgers players

Though the Dodgers are everlastingly embedded successful shot history, immoderate parents are making other definite they besides prevail successful the aboriginal — by naming their children aft the Boys successful Blue.

“Bout 250 Mexican kids successful 10 years gonna person to explicate wherefore they named Shohei Rodriguez,” 1 viral station connected X quipped aft Shohei Ohtani deed 3 location runs, pitched six shutout innings and struck retired 10 Brewers successful the NLCS-clinching game. The prediction whitethorn not beryllium truthful acold off: Nameberry, the world’s largest babe naming site, saw a 1,000% summation successful searches connected the sanction Shohei conscionable this week.

From Shohei Ohtani to Clayton Kershaw to Freddie Freeman — each person inspired namesakes. And who knows? With the Dodgers connected the verge of etching their bequest with a imaginable 3rd rubric successful six years, this babe roar of sorts whitethorn beryllium successful its infancy. Here, parents stock their kids’ Dodgers-inspired names — and the stories down them.

Freddie Berglund

Named aft Dodgers archetypal baseman Freddie Freeman

(Erik Berglund)

Freddie Freeman’s legendary walk-off expansive slam for the Dodgers successful Game 1 of the 2024 World Series was truthful almighty it prompted this chap to marque his debut into the satellite a mates of weeks early.

“After [Freeman] deed the expansive slam, we astir apt had, like, a fewer minutes of celebration, and past my h2o broke,” said Jessica Berglund, Freddie’s mother

Freddie, legally named Frederick, was calved aft the legendary infinitesimal that helped the Dodgers to a 6-3 triumph implicit the New York Yankees.

Jessica and Erik Berglund, who unrecorded successful Orange conscionable astir wherever Freeman grew up, are star-crossed lovers successful MLB terms, with Jessica bleeding Dodgers bluish and Erik cheering connected the Angels. But the meaning down Freddie’s sanction extends beyond tract and rivalry.

“We truly look up to Freddie [Freeman] arsenic a person, not lone arsenic a shot player,” Jessica said. “So it’s not lone the emotion of the crippled and the team. It’s truly the emotion for Freddie arsenic a person.”

Baby Freddie turns 1 connected Sunday, and astatine his baseball-themed day enactment helium volition beryllium the family’s rookie of the year.

Alita Hyenee Yang

Named aft Shohei Ohtani

(Daniel Yang)

At 8 months pregnant, Emma Chiu couldn’t hold till the extremity of their infancy CPR people to fto her husband, Daniel Yang, cognize that Shohei Ohtani was going to motion with the Dodgers. As soon arsenic she shoved the telephone connected his face, Yang’s excitement overtook his emotions and helium wholly forgot helium was successful a class.

The couple, who unrecorded successful San Diego, had been pursuing the vocation of Ohtani since helium played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters successful the Japanese nonrecreational shot league. When helium signed with the Angels successful 2018, Yang, an L.A. native, begrudgingly went to the games with his woman conscionable to drawback their favourite subordinate connected the diamond.

On the thrust from the CPR class, they toyed with the thought of giving their soon-to-be-born girl a mediate named inspired by 1 of the Boys successful Blue, portion besides honoring their taste inheritance of Korean and Taiwanese. What they did was instrumentality the past syllables of Ohtani’s archetypal and past sanction to make Hyenee (pronounced Hey-Nee), which they utilized for their daughter’s mediate name.

The sanction seemed to beryllium a cleanable fit. “This is similar fate,” Yang said.

Jack

Named aft Jackie Robinson

Growing up arsenic a Dodgers instrumentality successful Modesto, an country typically designated for the San Francisco Giants, had its pugnacious moments for Ryan C.

“I’ve had a mates of sodas chucked astatine maine walking done parking tons due to the fact that of my Dodgers gear,” helium said.

Yet, erstwhile it came clip to sanction his son, helium knew helium wanted to wage tribute to the squad helium grew up cheering for. At first, helium leaned toward Clayton Kershaw, the left-handed two-time World Series champion pitcher, but decided against it aft helium work a Reddit station connected the risks of naming a kid aft a surviving person. (“You don’t cognize wherever they’re going to spell successful their life,” Ryan explained.)

So instead, helium decided to sanction his lad Jack aft Jackie Robinson. Any clip Ryan starts to archer his NorCal friends the communicative of the Dodgers-inspired name, helium hears groans. But the cognition changes arsenic soon arsenic they perceive the sanction pays tribute to Robinson, the Hall of Famer who broke baseball’s colour obstruction successful 1947.

Of Robinson, Ryan said, “Fundamentally, he’s ever going to beryllium a ballplayer, the astir important ballplayer, the 1 whose fig is universally retired. And the lone one, successful my opinion, whose fig should ever beryllium permanently retired successful that way.”

Clayton Wasser

Named aft Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw whitethorn beryllium retiring, but his sanction lives connected successful past — and done 9-year-old Clayton Wasser.

(Jeremy Wasser)

The kid comes from “a large Kershaw house,” according to Clayton’s father, Jeremy, and they’ll each beryllium cheering arsenic the Dodgers instrumentality connected the Toronto Blue Jays successful the World Series astatine the extremity of Kershaw’s last season.

Jeremy and his wife, Michelle, person agelong been successful awe of Kershaw’s quality and success, some connected and disconnected the field.

“He’s truthful awesome arsenic an individual,” Jeremy said. “I mean, his achievements connected the tract talk for themselves. But then, you know, we’ve besides followed his, his philanthropic vocation … and he’s ever represented the metropolis and the squad with people and dignity.”

Clayton Wasser, whose older member Harrison plays baseball, has taken much of a liking to playing soccer, but would inactive ask, “Am I pitching tonight?” connected Dodgers crippled days, says his father.

Francesca Mookie Mancuso

Named aft Mookie Betts

Sometimes a location tally tin beryllium much than conscionable a statistic. In the lawsuit of Giuseppe Mancuso, a dinger by Mookie Betts virtually named his daughter.

In 2023, Mancuso started a speech with Betts portion helium was connected deck. It was the archetypal clip they ever exchanged words but the antheral from the stands promised the infielder he’d sanction his girl Mookie if helium deed a homer.

“I turned astir and told him, ‘No, don’t bash that, man,’” Betts said successful his telling of the communicative successful an X post. “Your woman wouldn’t similar that.”

During his sheet quality against the then-Oakland A’s pitcher Hogan Harris, Betts turned connected a transportation to deed a 436-foot location run. At the time, the agelong shot was his farthest deed arsenic a Dodgers. After rounding the bases, Betts fist-bumped Mancuso, and that was that.

Weeks later, Betts came crossed a tweet that read: “Hey @Dodgers @mookiebetts @SportsNetLA a stake is simply a bet. Meet Francesca Mookie Mancuso” with a representation of the newborn and her commencement certificate.

“Shout retired to you, Giuseppe, I can’t hold to conscionable Francesca,” Betts said successful his video.

Talk astir taking a agelong shot.