Samurai Japan's "super star" Ohtani Shohei (LA Dodgers)'s pregame batting has somehow become a "signature attraction."
According to the Japanese sports outlet Higashi SpoWeb, ahead of the game against Korea at Tokyo Dome on the 7th, Ohtani appeared as the final batter in the Japan national team's "Samurai Japan" pregame batting, thrilling baseball fans in both Japan and Korea.
The outlet described it as "To a major leaguer, Tokyo Dome might be too small a ballpark." Ohtani, together with Murakami Munetaka and Kondo Kensuke, formed a group of three and took turns hitting seven to eight swings each, cycling four times during the pregame batting.
In the third of the four pregame batting cycles, Ohtani hit a massive ball that lodged above the large scoreboard (Aurora Vision) in center-right. In the final cycle he again sent a massive ball over the right-field pole toward the third-deck seats, demonstrating overwhelming power.
Although there were only five home runs that cleared the fence and not many in total, the outlet said the trajectory and speed of the hits made it truly a pregame batting worth paying to watch. After finishing his turn at bat, Ohtani even helped pick up balls, and when he left the field he received sustained applause from before the game started.
Meanwhile, Korea started Koo Young-pyo as its starting pitcher. The starting lineup was designated hitter Kim Do-young, left fielder Jimmy Jones, center fielder Lee Jung-hoo, right fielder Ahn Hyun-min, third baseman Shay Whitcomb, first baseman Moon Bo-gyeong, shortstop Kim Joo-won, catcher Park Dong-won, and second baseman Kim Hye-sung.
Japan set the lineup as designated hitter Ohtani Shohei, right fielder Kondo Kensuke, center fielder Suzuki Seiya, left fielder Yoshida Masataka, third baseman Okamoto Kazuma, first baseman Murakami Munetaka, second baseman Maki Shugo, shortstop Genda Sosuke, and catcher Sakamoto Seishiro. The starting pitcher was left-hander Kikuchi Yusei.
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