SHOHEI Ohtani just played one of the greatest baseball games ever. If not the greatest.
Three home runs — one flying out of Dodger Stadium — and 10 strikeouts while surrendering only two hits. One man. Two superhuman roles. He led the Dodgers to the World Series and claimed the NLCS MVP.
I didn’t watch it live. I caught the highlights on YouTube last Saturday. Unbelievable. We’ve all seen Ohtani’s greatness before but what he did that night in Los Angeles elevated him into legend.
Take Japan. When my wife Jasmin and I visited Tokyo last November and Osaka last February, one face greeted us everywhere: Shohei Ohtani. From Seiko billboards in Shibuya to New Balance posters in Namba, from BOSS ads in train stations to his grin beside vending machines — Ohtani is everywhere.
In Japan, baseball isn’t just a pastime; it’s devotion. And Ohtani is its chosen one.
The nation that gave us Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, and Yu Darvish now bows to one man. He’s both a power hitter and an ace pitcher. He hurls 100-mph fastballs, then sends baseballs 450 feet into the bleachers. Watching him is like witnessing two athletes merged into one.
After five seasons in Japan (2013 to 2017), Ohtani crossed the Pacific in 2018. In just seven years in the U.S., he’s won three MVP trophies. And this 2025 season, he led the Dodgers to a World Series for the second straight year after winning the crown in 2024.
Japan rejoiced. So did much of Asia. When the Dodgers faced the Yankees in last October’s World Series, TV audiences in Japan and South Korea equaled those in the U.S. and Canada combined. Even Koreans, long hesitant to praise Japanese athletes, are captivated.
“The atmosphere in Korean society has often made it difficult for us to openly say we like Japan,” said Professor Lee Jong-Sung of Hanyang University. “But Ohtani may be the first Japanese athlete we can say we love. Some even consider him an honorary Korean.”
How massive is his stardom? Tickets to his games in Japan sell for as high as $10,000. The stadium buzz feels less like a baseball game and more like a coronation. And after signing a record-breaking $700 million contract, Ohtani remains humble.
He’s a marketing dream. At any given time, he has about 20 endorsements — his face as familiar as Mount Fuji. And the Dodgers now feel like “Team Japan.” Alongside Ohtani are pitching sensations Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
To me personally, baseball has always been one of my favorite sports. Together with my dad Bunny, I watched the Dodgers in 1993 when they faced the Colorado Rockies. I still remember Mike Piazza’s home run. A week later, I caught a foul ball when the Oakland A’s played the then-world champion Toronto Blue Jays.
And speaking of the Dodgers — they’ve got one player with the same family name: Andy Pages. The same city, the same jersey, the same name. I can’t help but smile.
The Dodgers are unstoppable and they’ll repeat as World Series champions. And as for Shohei — he’s no longer just Japan’s hero. He’s baseball’s new Babe Ruth.