‘We’re going to have kids growing up as Dodger fans’: How L.A.’s plan to win over Japan has begun
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Seiko Watanabe stood beside the pathway to the baseball fields at the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ spring training facility on a recent weekday morning, wearing a white Shohei Ohtani jersey purchased from the team’s store a day earlier. She kept one eye on her 6-year-old son — outfitted with a Dodgers cap, a Dodgers glove and a blue Dodgers shirsey with Ohtani’s No. 17 on the back — and the other on a nearby door from where players typically emerge.
Two days earlier, Watanabe had flown close to 6,000 miles from her Japanese hometown of Yokohama in hopes of merely catching a glimpse of Ohtani, with no guarantee of an autograph or even an interaction.
“I just want to see him,” she said. “That’s my dream.”
Twelve months ago, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman sat on the bleachers in Miyazaki, Japan, to watch the Japanese national team practice for the World Baseball Classic and thought about people like Watanabe. He was struck by the thousands of fans who showed up, but also by how their loyalties were splintered across a half-dozen Major League Baseball teams. He imagined them all wearing Dodgers gear instead. That image stayed with Friedman and his front-office lieutenants throughout 2023 — and helped push them to allocate more than $1 billion for Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
“I think the passion for the game of baseball there is as strong or stronger than any other country in the world,” Friedman said. “And so in an ideal world, in the next five to 10 years, we’re going to have kids growing up as Dodger fans.”
The Dodgers have yet to play their first game of 2024 — that will happen Thursday, in an exhibition contest against the division-rival San Diego Padres, at 3:10 p.m. ET on ESPN — but their standing as the predominant MLB team of Japan is already becoming clear.
Dodgers-branded wine has been sold at liquor stores in Japan; Japanese publications have previewed the Dodgers’ upcoming season as closely as they would any local team; and the iconic No. 16 jersey of former Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo has been popping up all over Camelback Ranch, the Dodgers’ spring training home. In the two-month stretch that encompassed Ohtani’s free-agent decision and Super Bowl Sunday, the Dodgers were searched on Google twice as often in Japan as they were in the United States.
“Every single day, you see the news about Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto,” Watanabe said. “Every channel. Every evening news, you see it.”
About a dozen Japanese photographers and videographers have stationed themselves on the outskirts of the Dodgers’ facility every morning shortly after sunrise, waiting to capture Ohtani and Yamamoto as they drive into the players’ parking lot. Ohtani’s first interview session, on Feb. 9, was attended by about 70 credentialed media members. Later that afternoon, at least that many stood along a rope to watch Yamamoto, Nippon Professional Baseball’s MVP three years running, warm up with fellow Dodgers starter Walker Buehler.
“Obviously baseball is kind of covered differently than other sports, and when you get the personalities and the following that those two guys get, it kind of becomes a little bit more like a football Sunday every day,” Buehler said. “I think it’s great for us as a team, great for a lot of the guys on our team that are going to get more attention for what they do and for our team as well. You can kind of go back to the World Baseball Classic and the coverage and the energy and the vibe that that gets. I think it’s good for the game to be covered in this way.”
The Dodgers had a foothold on Japan in the mid-1990s, when Nomo-mania swept Los Angeles. Nomo won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1995 and finished within the top five in Cy Young voting for a second straight time the following year. He faded shortly thereafter, but his presence and prowess spawned a generation of people in Japan who would grow up to be Dodgers fans.
Since then, Japan’s biggest stars — Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka, not to mention Ohtani when he first came to the big leagues in 2017 — have signed elsewhere. But with this winter’s moves, the Dodgers re-claimed their title as Japan’s team, at least in the mind of Scott Okamoto, a lifelong Angelino who has followed the Dodgers since the 1970s.
A little less than two years ago, Okamoto started a podcast, “Asians in Baseball,” about Asian representation in the major leagues, alongside Kim Cooper and Naomi Ko, two women in their early 30s who discovered the sport through the hoopla over the Chicago Cubs‘ World Series title in 2016 and fell in love with it while watching Ohtani establish himself as a two-way star in 2021. Ohtani’s influence in Japan in the 2020s evokes Michael Jordan’s imprint on American culture in the 1990s.
“Everyone from your 90-year-old grandmother to your toddler has heard Ohtani’s name in Japan,” Okamoto said. “It’s that pervasive.”
Ohtani’s introductory news conference on Dec. 14 was carried by five different networks in Japan and drew a worldwide audience of 70 million people. His Dodgers jersey set a Fanatics record for sales within the first 48 hours of release, breaking a mark previously held by soccer star Lionel Messi, when he joined Inter Miami.
The Dodgers, who don’t release specifics on ticket sales, are all but certain to reach the 4-million mark in attendance for the first time this season. The Angels, sources said, made around $20 million annually in additional sponsorship and marketing revenue while they employed Ohtani over these last six years, and league sources expect the Dodgers — a far more global brand to begin with — to do significantly better. The immediate tangible gains are obvious. What’s harder to grasp is what this will mean in the long term.
“I don’t think we understand the magnitude of it all,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said.
Perhaps Rōki Sasaki, the 22-year-old Japanese pitching sensation the Dodgers and 29 other teams are salivating over, will prioritize L.A. when he gets posted in the near future. Perhaps the generation that follows him will do the same, having grown up at a time when their idols wore Dodger Blue.
“I certainly think that that had to be part of the calculus,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was born in Okinawa, Japan.
“We’ve talked a lot over the years of doing everything that we can to be a destination spot, where our own players don’t want to leave, where players from other teams are longingly looking at the Dodgers and wanting to play there,” Friedman said. “And to the extent that that can extend to the elite players that are going to play in the NPB over the next 15, 20 years, that’s even better.”
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
1:51
Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
0:40
Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
0:50
Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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