Baseball mania reached fever pitch in Japan yesterday with public appearances of national hero Shohei Ohtani and other Japanese players set to take part in MLB season-opening games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs.
Ohtani’s World Series champions the Dodgers and the Cubs are to take the field at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday and Wednesday after playing exhibition games against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s pro league at the weekend.
Hundreds gathered at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Thursday hoping to welcome the arrival of the Dodgers from the US, only for the team to be spirited away from the crowds.
Photo: AP
Yukiko Nakamura was among the disappointed fans who waited in vain for a glimpse of Ohtani.
“I couldn’t get a ticket [to the matches and training], so I hoped that I could at least meet him here at the airport,” Nakamura said.
More fans amassed outside the Tokyo Dome yesterday as the teams held a practice session inside.
Photo: AFP
Ohtani told reporters he was still recovering from jet lag and was quick to share the spotlight with his fellow Major League players.
“In addition to the Japanese players I mentioned before, there will be other great players who represent the world with their own unique personalities,” Ohtani said. “So I think it would be great if people could genuinely enjoy the power, speed and other aspects that are the real appeal of Major League Baseball.”
The homecoming for Ohtani, who won his third Most Valuable Player award last year, follows a storybook year for the pitching and batting phenomenon, as well as growing success for Japanese players in the majors.
Giving his surgically repaired pitching arm a rest, Ohtani became MLB’s first 50 home run, 50 stolen bases man, culminating in a World Series in his first year with the Dodgers after six frustrating seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani is joined by Japanese teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, both pitchers with the Dodgers, while the Cubs have outfielder Seiya Suzuki and pitcher Shota Imanaga.
It marks the highest representation of Japanese players in the six times the MLB has held season openers in Japan since 2000.
“It’s really all thanks to the Japanese players that came before us who created the stepping stones for us to be here now, and I think I want to be kind of the stepping stone for the future generation of Japanese players to come and play in the MLB,” Suzuki told reporters.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS