TOKYO — The entire week was a buildup to this.
Whether the ball struck by Shohei Ohtani would have cleared the right-field wall at the Tokyo Dome if some fans hadn’t reached over the railing is immaterial. In baseball, results are marked in absolute terms, and the official record will forever show that Ohtani homered in the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ season-opening, two-game series finale against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
Which is how it had to be.
Because this week wasn’t about the defending World Series champions visiting Japan, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s transformation, or even Roki Sasaki’s major league debut.
This week was the Week of Ohtani.
This was the week when Ohtani brought his team to Japan. This was the week when Ohtani’s adopted country of the United States became aware of the degree to which he was admired in his homeland. And this was the week in which Ohtani homered in the Dodgers’ second win in as many nights over the Cubs.
Ohtani’s penchant for delivering on command is something that has been discussed ad nauseam — I wrote about it again after Ohtani homered in an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants four days earlier.
But his reliability is what made this entire week possible.
Sponsors paid a premium to have Ohtani pitch their products on the never-ending stream of commercials that were shown inside the Tokyo Dome because they know he will produce. Other companies made similar wagers on Ohtani, their Ohtani-themed advertisements found everywhere around this city.
Fans paid outrageous prices for tickets to watch these games because they knew there was a good chance Ohtani could produce a moment like this for them.
And he did.
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