Article content

By Stephen Wade

Article content

OSHU CITY, Japan (AP) — Hundreds of fans gathered Tuesday morning at a public viewing center in Shohei Ohtani’s hometown in northern Japan — the country is 13 hours ahead of Yankee Stadium _ to encourage the country’s biggest celebrity during the third match of the World Cup. Series.

Fans lined up outside the Oshu Town Cultural Centre, a 500-seat auditorium, on a perfect autumn morning to watch their local hero in a live broadcast. They were there an hour before the match started.

Many came dressed in Dodger Blue – caps or jerseys – and were given various noisemakers, including thunder sticks. The room was adorned with posters announcing Ohtani as “the pride of Oshu town”.

Ohtani, who was playing two days after dislocating his left shoulder in the second game, drew a walk in his first at-bat. This drew enthusiastic cheers from the 250 fans in attendance, who chanted “Go, Go. Shohei.” Then there were even more cheers when the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead on Freddie Freeman’s home run.

Article content

Article content

“It looks more like a Japanese treasure than just a local (treasure),” said fan Hiromitsu Kikuchi. “I think he’s gone beyond his hometown and he’s pretty world class. We’ve never had a star player like this before in our hometown.

Among the mostly older fans were about 20 children from the preschool Ohtani attended. They were equipped with small flags emblazoned with Ohtani’s smiling face.

Several fans said they were worried Ohtani wouldn’t play, but they left home when they heard the good news.

“I came to see Ohtani because the TV news said he would play,” said fan Tadashi Onodera. “It’s fantastic. We are proud to have such a player coming from our hometown.

It’s the town where Ohtani played Little League, starred as a pitcher and hitter at Hanamaki Higashi High School and became the favorite son of Iwate Prefecture, a mountainous region bordering the Pacific Ocean.

Article content

His hometown is located about 500 kilometers north of Tokyo, a largely rural region, far from the capital, its hundreds of skyscrapers and its upscale prosperity.

All eyes were on the Dodgers superstar – and his left shoulder. His injury briefly cast a pall and caused Japan’s mood to shift from magical to gloomy.

Then came relief. The magic returned when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts started Ohtani as the designated hitter and leadoff hitter in Game 3, something the home fans and all of baseball wanted to see.

“I was worried (about the injury), but I thought everything would be fine,” said Masatoshi Honmyo, another local fan. “I would say he’s a hero.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Article content