Dodgers’ Ohtani-Yamamoto Double Play Seen As A Win Overseas

Published Dec 22, 2023 4:24 PM

A 20-something Japanese man in a pinstriped baseball uniform that reads "Japan" holds up his right index finger, and a baseball mitt in his left hand.

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Travel agent Yoshi Miyajima says his Torrance-based agency is gearing up to book trips and hotel rooms for Japanese baseball fans coming to Dodger Stadium.

“Even more people are interested now since two players are coming,” Miyajima said.

Miyajima is referencing the second blockbuster deal the Los Angeles Dodgers have made this month with a Japanese player. On Thursday night, news broke that ace pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has reportedly signed a 12-year, $325 million contract — less than two weeks after two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani announced a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million deal.

The acquisition of Ohtani and Yamamoto brings the total number of Japanese-born players who have put on Dodger blue to 11, starting with Hideo Nomo in 1995 — or 12 if you count Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who was born in Okinawa.

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Japanese-born Dodgers

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2024-)
2. Shohei Ohtani (2024-)
3. Yoshi Tsutsugo (2021)
4. Kenta Maeda (2016–2019)
5. Yu Darvish (2017)
6. Hiroki Kuroda (2008–2011)
7. Takashi Saito (2006–2008)
8. Norihiro Nakamura (2005)
9. Hideo Nomo (1995–1998, 2002–2004)
10. Masao Kida (2003–2004)
11. Kazuhisa Ishii (2002-2004)
*Manager Dave Roberts is Okinawan-born.

Miyajima said the recruitment of two of Japan’s most famous athletes is generating even more excitement abroad in the Dodgers. While his agency arranged trips to Anaheim for Japanese tourists to watch Ohtani play for his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, Miyajima said that the Dodgers are on another level.

He described the Dodgers as locked in a popularity contest with another iconic MLB franchise. The New York Yankees once boasted legends Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui on their roster.

“But right now, no Japanese pitchers on the Yankees,” Miyajima said.

In Japan, pitchers tend to get more TV time and media attention, said Nicholas Watanabe, who teaches sports management at the University of South Carolina. He recalls watching MLB games during the Ichiro era while living in Japan, when sportscasts would dip into a game to see the star outfielder at-bat, then cut away to another game when he was done.

With two Japanese pitchers on the mound — for Ohtani, not until 2025 because of recent elbow surgery — the cameras will be fixed on the Dodgers.

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Two baseball players stand side by side on a field. One wears a gray and red uniform with Angels and the number 17 in red, the other wears a blue and white uniform with Dodgers written across the front in blue and the number 50 in red

“So a lot more people are going to be watching,” Watanabe said. “Of course, that means more brands, more businesses, advertisers all want to be part of that.”

The newcomers will debut with the Dodgers in Asia, when the team opens its 2024 regular season in Seoul against the San Diego Padres. When they return to L.A., there should be no shortage of Dodgers fans wearing Ohtani and Yamamoto jerseys in the stands.

Los Angeles-based enterprises beyond the Dodgers will benefit from the down-the-line impact of international interest in the team, said Alex Medina, spokesperson for the non-profit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

A white man with white hair helps put on a Dodgers jersey on a 29-year-old Japanese man.

“From the hotel operators, the restaurants around the stadiums, and those vendors who supply the stadiums with what they need, whether that’s the food, whether it's lighting vendors, this is going to have a great impact on our economy,’ Medina said.