The entire week was a buildup to this.
Whether the ball struck by Shohei Ohtani would have cleared the right-field wall at the Tokyo Dome if some fans hadn’t reached over the railing is immaterial. In baseball, results are marked in absolute terms, and the official record will forever show that Ohtani homered in the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
“I’m relieved that one got out somehow,” Ohtani said in Japanese.
Because Ohtani knew.
He knew why 42,367 fans packed the Tokyo Dome on this night, and why many of them paid extraordinary prices for tickets.
Read more: Roki Sasaki’s MLB debut is tantalizing, and shaky, as Dodgers complete Tokyo Series sweep
He knew what they wanted to see.
This week wasn’t about the defending World Series champions visiting Japan, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s transformation, or even Roki Sasaki’s major league debut.
This was the Week of Ohtani.
Only one ending would separate this overseas series from any of the others staged by Major League Baseball, and Ohtani produced it.
“He seems to always do something cool, so that’s why you gotta tune in to watch,” veteran Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw said.
Kershaw is on the injured list. He barely spent any time in spring training, electing to rehabilitate his surgically repaired toe in Texas. However, Kershaw traveled to Japan with his family, in part because he wanted to see what it would be like to be there with Ohtani.
“We all know what Shohei is, but until you see him in his home country, it’s just a different level than I think anybody really understands,” he said.
Commercials played nonstop on the Tokyo Dome’s video scoreboard before games, and the overwhelming majority of them featured Ohtani. Images of the three-time MVP were everywhere in Tokyo, adorning countless billboards and storefronts.
“He handles way more than any of us do, for sure,” Kershaw said. “He understands the responsibilities that he has. I know it can’t be easy. But at the end of the day, I think he just wants to play baseball.”
And produce.
His ability to produce moments such as the solo homer against the Cubs is why sponsors have the confidence to invest their marketing dollars in him. His penchant for generating outcomes desired by fans is why they pay premiums to watch him.
“I think that’s why he’s changing the game in America,” Kershaw said. “I think the financials for the Dodgers, especially, are showing that.”
If a star basketball player has an off shooting night, he can take more shots, and if he takes enough of them, he should affect the game one way or another. A baseball player can’t make up for his mistakes with volume, as he is limited by the number of at-bats he can take. This is a major reason why regular-season baseball is rarely considered appointment viewing. Games are often decided by players other than the stars.
Ohtani seems to defy this logic.
“It’s almost kind of become the expectation that whenever he comes up in a big situation, he’s going to come through,” second baseman Tommy Edman said. “It’s just kind of ridiculous. It seems like he’s just playing a video game and we’re all just out there grinding, trying to do whatever we can to win the game, and he’s just playing a different game altogether.”
Ohtani, who homered four days earlier in an exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants, was clearly determined to give the fans what they wanted.
Facing a left-hander in Cubs starter Justin Steele, the left-handed-hitting Ohtani jumped on a first-pitch fastball and drove it to the warning track. He took another giant swing — and missed — in his second at-bat before grounding out to first base.
Finally, in the fifth inning, Ohtani did what everyone was expecting him to do. He drove a low fastball toward the right-field stands, its flight interrupted by a set of overzealous hands. While the play was initially ruled a home run, the video replay system was utilized to make sure the ball was on its way over the wall before it was touched.
The call stood.
Read more: Hernández: Shohei Ohtani home run at Tokyo Dome becomes another moment delivered seemingly on command
“I thought it would clearly get in, but it became a little iffy,” Ohtani said. “But I’m glad it got out.”
The home run transformed the crowd. The homer guaranteed fans they wouldn’t have to leave the stadium pretending they weren’t disappointed after spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to watch Ohtani do something special. This made them more transparent about what they wanted.
So when Ohtani was intentionally walked in the seventh inning in an obvious intentional-walk situation, they booed. So when Ohtani was walked again in the ninth inning, this time unintentionally, they booed again. The instant the Dodgers registered their third out in the top of the ninth, the Tokyo Dome turned into Dodger Stadium, with fans rushing for the exits.
When everything was over, Ohtani thanked the crowd for creating a special memory for him. In response, they screamed. They applauded. They were thanking him because he had already created memories for them.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Read the full article here
