The Los Angeles Dodgers began the regular season by sweeping the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, which marked a homecoming for Shohei Ohtani.
The two-way star received a hero’s welcome when the Dodgers arrived and was met with thunderous applause before each at-bat in the Tokyo Series.
Cubs pitcher Justin Steele was also amazed by the plethora of advertisements Ohtani is featured in throughout Japan, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
“He’s everywhere over there,” Steele said, “in the gas stations, in the mall and stuff. You can see him everywhere. It’s a big deal. It’s crazy.”
Dansby Swanson compared Ohtani to NBA legend Michael Jordan in terms of popularity and enjoyed seeing fan reaction for his return to the Tokyo Dome:
Said Swanson: “I kind of assumed that he would be everywhere, and he is everywhere. He’s like our Michael Jordan, I guess, in a way. Just the craze and the popularity around him. Just the desire to want to get a glimpse of him. Just the whole thing. It’s pretty cool.”
Ian Happ acknowledged the Dodgers had the home-field advantage in Japan, but was still impressed by the number of fans who showed up to support the Cubs:
“It’s pretty incredible how much he’s on the advertisements,” Happ said. “But baseball is so big over there, I think even for us, people outside the hotel were there to get autographs and the fans, how appreciative they were. There were a couple of exhibition games where there were a couple of signs for me, which was pretty amazing.”
There’s no question that the Tokyo Series was a major success for MLB and baseball as a whole. The six games, including exhibitions, drew capacity crowds with a total attendance of 252,795.
The Tokyo Series Fan Fest additionally drew more than 450,000 fans over the course of 12 days. The free event located at TOKYO SKYTREE was also the most-visited fan festival in MLB history.
Shohei Ohtani resuming pitching program
Ohtani was still limited to only filling a designated hitter role for the Dodgers in Tokyo, but he is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday as he continues to pursue a return to pitching this season.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
