by Cary Osborne
Anxious, eager, joyful — yes.
But nervous, hardly ever. That’s just a demeanor or a feeling that Shohei Ohtani doesn’t exude.
But the most popular and many have said the greatest baseball player on the planet admitted that he felt nervous before his first at-bat in the Tokyo Series against the Cubs on Tuesday.
Then he went out and collected a pair of hits and a few runs in a Dodger victory.
He had every right to feel the same on Wednesday — playing for the final time in his home country, where billboards and beverage bottles display his face — before returning to Los Angeles to resume the Major League season.
But Ohtani found his comfort place — in a batter’s box. He missed a home run by maybe 10 feet in his first at-bat on Wednesday. But in the fifth inning, he got a hold of one and now leaves Japan with a home run as a Dodger.
“I felt a lot more relaxed today, overall,” Ohtani said.
The Tokyo Series was a showcase for the Dodgers — a country that manager Dave Roberts acknowledged has been painted blue. They leave Japan with two regular season wins and three players holding dried paintbrushes — Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
Each Japanese-born player factored into the Dodgers’ sweep of the Cubs and the frenzy created by the Dodgers’ presence in Japan.
Ohtani’s homer was the final brushstroke — a dome-scraping fly ball at the Tokyo Dome that eventually clipped the hands of a fan reaching over the wall in right-center field. It gave the Dodgers a 6–2 lead at the time. They won 6–3.
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“I know Shohei puts his pants on, just like we all do, one leg at a time. But if there’s ever a superhero, I think Shohei just seems like a superhero,” Roberts said. “And in the biggest of games or the biggest of moments, he seems to always deliver.”
The designated hitter created another perfectly timed moment in his short Dodger career thus far.
· He homered on Japanese Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium on July 2.
· He homered in the 2024 All-Star Game.
· He hit a walk-off grand slam to reach the 40/40 Club.
· He hit three home runs in the game where he reached the 50/50 Club.
· He hit his first career postseason home run in his first career postseason game.
Now this for the former Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league MVP and Samurai Japan World Baseball Classic champion.
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His teammate on that squad, Sasaki, made his Major League debut in the game on Wednesday.
Sasaki, one of the most coveted international free agents ever, pitched four seasons in the NPB and electrified the league with a triple-digit fastball and industry-raving splitter.
Just to drive home the point of how special he is, Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said this at Sasaki’s introductory press conference on Jan. 22: “You will not only add to our rich legacy, but you will also play an instrumental part in helping us write the next chapter in Dodgers history.”
Sasaki’s debut, as the №1 prospect in all of baseball pitching for the defending World Series champions in his home country, had been one of the most anticipated events of the Tokyo Series.
Sasaki rolled through three batters in his first inning, collecting his first Major League K when he struck out fellow countryman Seiya Suzuki. But Sasaki struggled with command in the third inning, walking three in a row during one stretch.
But overall he flashed the 100-mph heater, he limited damage and ended his night after three innings with the Dodgers leading.
The 23-year-old followed a near-sterling performance by his Samurai Japan teammate Yamamoto from the night before.
Yamamoto, 26 and entering his second season with the Dodgers, allowed one run over five innings in the Dodgers’ 4–1 victory on Tuesday. He became the first winning pitcher of the Major League season, the first winning pitcher by a Dodger in Japan, and he continued his ascent as a Major League pitcher.
The three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner — the NPB’s equivalent of MLB’s Cy Young Award — drew high praise after his Tuesday performance.
“I think that last year to this year, the confidence, the conviction that he has in throwing the fastball in the strike zone is much, much more convicted.” Roberts said. “And so you saw that tonight. And so if he can do that, obviously (with) health, I see no reason why he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”
This is just two of 162 games. But the Tokyo Series had every bit the big-game atmosphere. And the Dodgers — and their three Japanese players — leave the country having made an impression.
“I’m happy that my teammates got to experience Japan on and off the field, but most importantly, coming away with two wins is something really huge for us,” Ohtani said. “I’m glad that we’re going to head back to the U.S. on a good note.”
The Dodgers leave Japan with dried paintbrushes in hand was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.