While Shohei Ohtani was navigating a clandestine free agency process, the name of his dog and why it was a closely-guarded secret became part of the headlines.
One of the popular online theories claimed the name of Ohtani’s dog was related to the team he would eventually sign with. That wound up being the Los Angeles Dodgers on a record-setting $700 million contract, and Ohtani revealed his dog’s name during an introductory press conference at Dodger Stadium.
Decoy’s (or Dekopin in Japanese) popularity has continued to grow since he was with Ohtani for the announcement of the 2023 American League MVP Award. Although Decoy was not with Ohtani during a recent visit to the United States Embassy in Tokyo, he wasn’t far from Ambassador Rahm Emanuel’s thoughts.
Emanuel presented Ohtani with a fake United States visa for Decoy.
Shohei Ohtani posted a fake passport for his dog Decoy 😂 pic.twitter.com/H29bZXgQl5
— MLB (@MLB) January 11, 2024
The documentation includes 000MVPUP000 as the passport number and a control number of 000GOODBOY000, along with both names, Dekopin and Decoy.
Emanuel previously met with Ohtani at the U.S. Embassy in March 2023.
Shohei Ohtani explains dog’s name
After answering a slew of questions related to his decision to sign with the Dodgers, Ohtani was asked the name of his dog, and offered an explanation for Dekopin and Decoy.
“His name is Dekopin,” Ohtani said through translator Ippei Mizuhara. “That’s a Japanese name. I figured it would be hard for American people to announce it, so he has an American name, Decoy. So you can call him Decoy or Dekopin.”
In Japanese, “Dekopin” means to flick one’s forehead.
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