The Toronto Blue Jays saw Shohei Ohtani record four extra-base hits in his first four plate appearances in Game 3 of the World Series and simply said, “that’s enough.”

After Ohtani tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh inning, Toronto did all it could to prevent him from seeing a pitch again, walking the reigning NL MVP four times as the game stretched into one of the longest contests in postseason history.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had plenty of chances to drive Ohtani in, but as both offenses struggled, the decision to avoid the future Hall of Famer started to look wiser.

Here’s a look at where Ohtani’s four intentional walks rank in MLB and postseason history.

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Most intentional walks in a game

Ohtani’s four intentional walks are tied for second in MLB history, part of a group trailing only Andre Dawson. Here’s the full leaderboard:

Dawson’s five intentional walks at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds on May 22, 1990 still stand as an MLB record. That game lasted 16 innings, and Dawson entered hitting .346 on the season. The Reds still lost, 2-1.

Barry Bonds naturally represents four of the 10 four-IBB games in MLB history. The all-time home run leader was intentionally walked four times in four different games in 2004. 

Washington Nationals star James Wood is the only player other than Ohtani to be intentionally walked four times in a game in the last decade. The Angels worked around Wood on June 29, 2025 in a game the Nationals still won, 7-4.

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Most intentional walks in a playoff game

Ohtani now holds the record for most intentional walks in a postseason game with four. Every other individual game of four or five intentional walks took place in the regular season, but Ohtani stands alone in more ways than one with his performance in Game 3.