TOKYO — The Dodgers were treated to the ultimate Sho dinner.
The team’s three Japanese stars – Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki – hosted a team dinner on Sunday night with Ohtani taking the lead role in making the arrangements, according to Yamamoto.
“Every guy that I talked to said it was the best experience they ever had,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “In baseball player terms, we call it ‘show dinners’ (when one player makes all the arrangements) and they said it was the best show dinner they ever had.”
The menu was prepared by multiple chefs and included a 400-pound tuna expertly carved, crab, yakitori (grilled chicken) and uni (sea urchin sushi).
“Awesome. So cool. I’ve never done anything like that before,” Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia said of the dinner.
“It was like the No. 1 – I don’t want to butcher it, but – fish-cutting guy. I don’t know if that’s the right term (maguro itama), I’m sorry. He cut it, and it was amazing. … I’ve never seen anything up close like that, that big of a fish. It was definitely a lot of fun. It was amazing to eat. It was super fresh. The fish was caught two or three days ago, and it was never frozen.”
Vesia said he only ate the tuna but teammate Freddie Freeman was caught on video (posted by Ohtani to Instagram) being goaded into trying the sea urchin and pronouncing it, “Not bad.”
Vesia said he was “in awe of everything” that the three Japanese players put together for the team.
“They went to the extreme for us,” Vesia said. “I think that was a very special moment. I was talking to Sho for a little bit, and he was super excited about this event. I know it means a lot.”
The dinner was a chance for Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki to show off their culture to their teammates, Roberts said, and also speaks to Ohtani’s willingness to step forward more as a team leader this year.
“I just think that it’s their sense of nationalism and pride in their country that they wanted to put their best foot forward to welcome their teammates to Japanese cuisine and show hospitality,” Roberts said. “I think that’s what speaks more for me. But yeah, would he have done this last year if we were here in Tokyo? Probably not.”
The Dodgers opened last season with a visit to Seoul, South Korea and Roberts said that trip helped foster the team chemistry that all involved have pointed to as critical in the Dodgers’ championship run.
“I do think the team-building, the player-building, the family building, all that stuff started last year in Seoul and continued to galvanize as the season went on,” he said. “I do think that there’s a lot to that. … I do think that an experience like this certainly galvanizes. Absolutely.
“I think guys are sticking together, taking in experiences together. … I think there’s power in guys having a shared experience together.”
Vesia agreed that a trip like this visit to Tokyo gives the group a chance to re-affirm team culture and show new players “how tight we are as a group – last night was definitely one of those nights.”