Shohei Ohtani yesterday got his Los Angeles Dodgers career off to a winning start in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres in their MLB season-opening clash in Seoul.
Japan’s Ohtani, who has been likened to a modern-day version of Babe Ruth, joined the Dodgers in December last year in a 10-year deal worth US$700 million.
His every move this week in baseball-loving South Korea has been headline news and Gocheok Sky Dome was packed with fans wearing his No. 17 jersey for the first MLB regular-season game to be played in the country.
Photo: AP
He made a tentative start to his official Dodgers debut, but hit a run-scoring single in the eighth inning as Los Angeles came from behind to win the game.
The 29-year-old finished with two hits from five appearances at the plate, with one RBI.
Ohtani announced last month that he had got married, and his wife Mamiko was in the crowd wearing a white Dodgers jersey and blue cap.
Fans were treated to a pre-game performance by K-pop group Aespa before Park Chan-ho — the first South Korean to play in MLB — threw out the ceremonial first pitch using the glove from his first major league appearance.
Before the game, Park, who works as an adviser with San Diego, said he was proud of how his achievements and those of his former Japanese teammate, Hideo Nomo, inspired younger generations of Asian players to try and reach the majors.
Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995.
“When I look at all these Asian players today, I feel that the tree planted by Hideo Nomo has grown strong and the tree planted by Chan-ho Park has grown strong, and that the fruits of those trees are now leading the majors and inspiring new hope,” Park said.
The party atmosphere continued as the game began, with music blaring and drums pounding as Dodgers lead-off batter Mookie Betts faced Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish.
Ohtani and Darvish were squaring off against each other for the first time. They had been teammates on Japan’s World Baseball Classic-winning team last year.
Ohtani got on base in his first trip to the plate, but his grounder allowed the Padres to force out Betts at second.
He got his first hit in his second at-bat, reaching first base before stealing his way to second.
The Padres took the lead in the bottom of the third inning and pulled ahead again in the fourth after the Dodgers had evened the score.
Ohtani was thrown out running for first base in his fourth plate appearance.
The Dodgers turned things around in a four-run eighth inning, with Ohtani capping off the scoring by driving in Gavin Lux to huge cheers from the crowd.
The Padres’ South Korean star Kim Ha-seong finished hitless in three appearances at the plate.
The Dodgers and Padres play the second game of their series in Seoul today.
Japan’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto is to make his debut as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, while Joe Musgrove takes the mound for the Padres.
Additional reporting by AP
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