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Finally, we learn the plane truth about Ohtani
Los Angeles Times
|October 23, 2025
In 2023, reports had free agent on a flight to Toronto, but, alas, it was 'Shark Tank' star Herjavec
ROBERT HERJAVEC was on a jet in December 2023, sending Canada into a huge frenzy. "I let down an entire nation," he says.
No sooner had the Toronto Blue Jays clinched a World Series spot against the Dodgers than the torrent of memes, posts and tweets flowed, all with some version of this one-liner: Finally, Shohei Ohtani is on the plane to Toronto.
On a December day two years ago, as Ohtani navigated free agency: three reports surfaced: there was a private plane flying from Orange County to Toronto (true); Ohtani had decided to sign with the Blue Jays (false); and Ohtani was on a flight to Toronto (false).
When the jet landed, surrounded by reporters and photographers and even a news helicopter, an entire country fell into despair. The gentleman on the plane was not Ohtani.
He was Robert Herjavec, a star on "Shark Tank" and a prominent Canadian businessman with homes in Toronto and Southern California.
"It is my only claim to fame in the sports world: to be mistaken for someone else," Herjavec said Tuesday.
This story is from the October 23, 2025 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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