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.
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