By David Waldstein
Masa Kawai wore his faded New York Yankees cap last Wednesday as he served customers at the Japanese doughnut shop he owns in Edgewater, New Jersey. It was two days before Game 1 of a World Series that would feature his Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kawai, who emigrated from Japan 20 years ago, left no doubt about his allegiance.
As happy as he is to see Shohei Ohtani, the incomparable slugger from Japan, reach the World Series, Kawai and his Japanese employees are not abandoning the Yankees, not with so much at stake.
“No, no, never,” Kawai said with a laugh. “I like Ohtani a lot. He is an amazing player, and he is Japanese, like me. But I want the Yankees to win.”
Japanese baseball fans are like sports fans everywhere. Some are fanatical about one team. Some are more casual and switch allegiances depending on a team’s fortunes. Some root solely for a particular athlete, whether it is Ohtani, LeBron James, Marta or Patrick Mahomes.
Ohtani, though, is a special case. It was once thought blasphemous to compare anyone to Babe Ruth, but Ohtani has done things even the Bambino did not. Ruth was a great pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and, later, a legendary slugger for the Yankees, but he rarely excelled at both at once as Ohtani has.
With his unprecedented combination of all-around skill, plus his natural humility and boyish good looks, Ohtani has stoked the imaginations of millions of people. It is not outlandish to think he could one day be considered the best all-around player in history.
But don’t expect hard-core Japanese Yankees fans to unhitch their loyalty for the first handsome, slugging pitching ace who comes along. Yes, they like and respect Ohtani. But they love the Yankees. The best possible outcome would be for Ohtani to hit four home runs in every game and for the Yankees to win, 5-4.
“For sure, that would be perfect,” said Taka Shirai, executive director of Hideki Matsui’s 55 Baseball Foundation and the president of the Leadoff Sports agency. “The Dodgers are getting bigger for Japanese fans. But the Yankees are still the Yankees.”
Ohtani did not hit any home runs in Game 1 on Friday, but he doubled, scored an important run and was part of a wild celebration after Freddie Freeman’s 10th-inning grand slam gave the Dodgers a dramatic 6-3 victory that stung Yankee fans.
Late in Game 2 on Saturday, a 4-2 win for the Dodgers, Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder while sliding into second base during a steal attempt. The superstar’s status for today’s Game 3 in New York was unclear at press time.
Shirai has lived in New York since 2003, when Matsui left the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo to join the Yankees. It was a momentous transfer because Matsui, nicknamed Godzilla, was the unmatched star of Japan’s largest club, and he was going to their American equivalent in the Bronx. The Yankees were already popular in baseball-mad Japan, but when Matsui joined the team and later led it to the 2009 championship as World Series MVP, the franchise’s preeminence in Japan was solidified.
“After 2009, everything changed,” Shirai said. “Hideki did really well with the Yankees. That connection is very, very strong.”
Ellison Stanley is a dual Japanese and U.S. citizen who grew up in Japan, mostly in Tokyo. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he works as a video producer, but his loyalty was fused to the Yankees in 2004, when they opened their season against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Tokyo Dome. A schoolboy at the time, Stanley watched as Matsui played left field and hit a home run. Those memories are not easily dissolved.
“I always want the Yankees to win,” Stanley, 29, said. “But if they weren’t in it, I would support Ohtani. He is a perfect example of what a great baseball player should be, and he really represents Japan well.”
There is an element of communal pride in Ohtani’s accomplishments and comportment, as there was for Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente and others.
The same was also true for previous Japanese stars like Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki and Matsui. Each was a pioneer in his own way, and they all confirmed that Japanese players could excel in MLB — and even set significant records and win major awards. Their popularity reflected their success, and the same goes for Ohtani. Last year, he became the first Japanese player to have his jersey lead all sales; it did the same this year.
“We are so proud of him as a Japanese person,” said Noriko Yamamoto, a fashion industry marketer in Tokyo. “It is amazing that he is doing it in the U.S.”
After starring with the crosstown Angels for several years, Ohtani signed a historic, 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December and finally made his first foray into the playoffs. The TV broadcast for his last playoff game against San Diego averaged nearly 13 million viewers in Japan, compared with 7.5 million in the United States. Now in the World Series, his profile has spiked even more.
Jim Small, president of the World Baseball Classic, spent 16 years leading MLB’s offices in Tokyo. Ohtani, Small said, has actually eclipsed Suzuki and Matsui in popularity.
“That is saying a lot, because those two are immensely popular,” he said. “At the same time, Japanese fans are sophisticated baseball fans. If they support a team, that is not given up easily. It would be a very rare case for a Japanese Yankee fan to root for the Dodgers in this World Series.”
MLB PLAYOFFS
World Series (Best of 7)
Friday’s Game 1
Los Angeles Dodgers 6, New York Yankees 3
Saturday’s Game 2
Dodgers 4, Yankees 2 (LA leads series 2-0)
Today’s Game 3
(All Times Eastern)
Dodgers at Yankees, 8:08 p.m. (FOX)
Tuesday’s Game 4
Dodgers at Yankees, 8:08 p.m. (FOX)
Wednesday’s Game 5 (if necessary)
Dodgers at Yankees, 8:08 p.m. (FOX)
Game 6 (if necessary)
Friday, Nov. 1
Yankees at Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. (FOX)
Game 7 (if necessary)
Saturday, Nov. 2
Yankees at Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. (FOX)