They screamed.
They screamed and made that noise that crowds make when 1000’s of individuals scream on the similar time, that sound that’s heard when the house group takes a lead late in a playoff recreation.
had taken the sphere — for a exercise.
“That,” Dodgers third baseman stated, “was a fairly cool second for all of us to witness.”
Think about if Ohtani had truly taken batting observe Friday like many of the different hitters. Think about the response of who packed the lower-bowl seats behind dwelling plate and the 2 foul traces on the Tokyo Dome.
The Dodgers are champions. They’ve two high-profile Japanese gamers apart from Ohtani in opening-day starter and rookie fireballer . They produce other signature gamers within the likes of and .
The gang’s response to Ohtani, nonetheless, reestablished a longstanding reality in regards to the Dodgers: In Japan’s view, there may be Ohtani after which there may be everybody else.
The Dodgers are the Rolling Stones and Ohtani is Mick Jagger.
“If not for Ohtani, I don’t assume all of Japan could be in a frenzy like this,” stated Taka Hattori, a 51-year-old fan who wore a custom-made No. 17 jersey with “SHOTIME” embroidered throughout the again.
Followers cramped into a close-by 30,000-square-foot corridor that was remodeled right into a . Lots of confirmed up the day gone by at Haneda Airport to catch a glimpse of the Dodgers, who arrived for the Tokyo Sequence, their season-opening, two-game set towards the Chicago Cubs that begins on Tuesday.
Greater than 1,000 media credentials have been issued for the video games, that are bought out. The asking value on the secondary marketplace for the least-expensive tickets are within the neighborhood of $1,500.
Hattori paid 18,000 yen, or about $120, to affix the , which entered him right into a lottery for Japan Sequence tickets.
He didn’t win.
Hattori settled for the exercise on Friday, as he was capable of buy tickets from a pal at their face worth of two,000 yen, or about $13.
“I personally actually like Ichiro [Suzuki],” Hattori stated. “I used to be capable of watch Ichiro play right here on opening day. Nevertheless it wasn’t like this.”
Hattori described Ohtani as being “from one other universe.”
“After all, Ohtani is a consultant of Japan,” Hattori stated. “Nevertheless it doesn’t matter any extra whether or not he’s Japanese, American or Korean. I really feel he’s reached the extent at which he isn’t a consultant of any explicit nation however is quite a consultant of baseball.”
Runa Misaki traveled from her hometown of Osaka to look at the exercise together with her pal Yuko Hanashima.
They stated they have been drawn to Ohtani as a lot by his persona as his performances.
“I feel he actually likes baseball,” Hanashima stated. “I feel he likes baseball greater than anybody. I feel that’s why youngsters like him a lot.”
Misaki stated she would return to Tokyo on Sunday for an exhibition recreation towards the Hanshin Tigers. Tickets for that recreation, in addition to for a recreation on Saturday towards the Yomiuri Giants, are being bought on the secondary marketplace for greater than $600.
“I would really like them to open right here each season,” Misaki stated.
Ohtani’s recognition right here is such that different Dodgers have additionally change into well-known by affiliation.
Followers waved en masse at supervisor , who waved again. They shouted the names of and . They shrieked with delight when Freeman acknowledged them with an affectionate wave of the glove.
In addition they watched batting observe with the identical focus with which they might watch a recreation. Binoculars and cell phone cameras have been pointed on the batter’s field. Some followers noticed the motion whereas clutching sleeping infants. The conclusion of each spherical of batting observe was adopted by applause.
Thoughts you, this was for a exercise. The primary official recreation was nonetheless 4 days away.
