The Tokyo Dome was packed to witness Japan defeat China, 8-1, in their first game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
A packed crowd gathered at the famous venue to watch Shohei Ohtani do his thing on the mound and at the plate, just like he does on an everyday basis in MLB.
As it turns out, he did his job to perfection and then some.
All those fans were eager to see Ohtani play at home in an official game for the first time in years.
They were not disappointed, as they were able to soak in the Ohtani experience: watching a dual threat dominate on the mound and produce at the plate.
Putting on a Sho in Japan. 🇯🇵 #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/hakfLfkDzn
—MLB (@MLB) March 9, 2023
You could tell the star was having a great time.
He winked his eye at teammates after getting big outs, shook hands with them, enjoyed the applause coming from the stands, and showed us all why he is baseball’s biggest global star at the moment.
He was phenomenal on Thursday, pitching four scoreless innings with a 0/5 BB/K ratio and just one hit allowed.
He also had a crucial two-run double in the fourth inning to help his own cause, turning a 1-0 game into a 3-0 one.
Those who want to see Ohtani pitch again will probably have to wait until the second round, if Japan makes it that far – they should – because the rest of the Pool games will go to Yu Darvish, Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
If he performs like we all know he can, Ohtani has excellent odds to be crowned as the MVP of the tournament.
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