![]() ![]() “He stole a base (the other day), you know?” said Taisuke Ochi, who works in technical services and watches as much Ohtani as he can. "He's a pioneer," Sasaki said, noting his success on both the mound and in the batter's box this season. "He's doing something different. They do not receive an ounce of air time, Tajima said. There are other Japanese players in the majors, including Yusei Kikuchi of the Seattle Mariners and the Kenta Maeda of the Minnesota Twins. "The first thing we will do is watch the TV and check the results," Sasaki said. The only problem is the weekends, when day games mean NHK broadcasts start around 5 a.m. "So for us, it's very easy to watch," said Kazuya Tajima, a language services coordinator for Tokyo 2020. With Tokyo 16 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone, the games start around 11 a.m. Japan's public television station, NHK, broadcasts all Angels games, especially now that Tanaka has returned to Japan with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. ![]() Nonetheless, it's hard not to look at the dozen or so rows of seats beyond the tall right-center field wall and imagine Ohtani clearing the ballpark's confines. Since Ohtani's former Japanese professional team, the Nippon-Ham Fighters, plays in the Pacific League of the NPB, Ohtani rarely played in this stadium. "Amazing," was Japanese star and former New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka's one-word response when asked about Ohtani through an interpreter on Saturday. He also has a 3.04 ER and 100 strikeouts in 80 innings. Entering Saturday, Ohtani leads the league in home runs (37) and slugging percentage (.684). He's ascended to stardom and domination this season. Tommy John surgery cost him chunks of time in the next two seasons, but he managed to hit 25 homers between the shortened campaigns. "He's our hero," says Akari Sasaki, a sport information team volunteer for Tokyo 2020.Īfter signing with the Angels in December 2017, Ohtani - who turned 27 on July 5 - became Rookie of the Year in his first Major League Baseball season as the first legitimate two-way player the game had seen in a century. But what do you think of him? Do you watch him on television? ![]()
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