It's peak Ohtani on opening day in Japan

Major League Baseball has had no shortage of stars, but it has never seen a sensation like Shohei Ohtani, who is Japan’s answer to Babe Ruth, writes Ken Belson from Tokyo

- Ken Belson

It’s hard to be ubiquitous in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world, but Shohei Ohtani has found a way. The Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star seems to be everywhere: on billboards, on products, in television ads and news and entertainment shows and, of course, on the field when his games are broadcast live in Japan.

Ohtani might play baseball 5,500 miles away, but one of the first things people see when they deplane at Haneda Airport, the city’s international gateway, is a photo of the superstar in an ad for green tea.

Leaving the airport, one sees Ohtani’s boyish image on vending machines, in convenience stores and wrapped around trains coursing through the city. Last week, when Ohtani and his team landed in Tokyo to prepare for two season-opening games against the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers announced yet another sponsorship — with Hakkaisan Brewery, a sake distiller based in Japan.

Major League Baseball has had no shortage of stars over the years, but it has never seen a sensation like Ohtani, who is Japan’s answer to Babe Ruth, a rare player who can both pitch and hit at the highest level.

His return earlier this month to Japan, where tickets to his games went for as much as $10,000 (336,300 baht), had the feel of a coronation for a homegrown star who last season signed a record $700 million contract and helped the Dodgers win the World Series.

In sports, money often follows success, and Ohtani’s success has created a windfall for himself, the Dodgers and the league. Ohtani has about 20 active sponsorship deals at any time, like with the Japanese drugmaker Kowa and with New Balance, and the value of his deals spiked after he joined the Dodgers last season following six years with the Los Angeles Angels.

Rob Manfred, the commissioner of MLB, who has overseen its international expansion, has encountered his share of stars in his nearly 30 years at the league. But Ohtani is a cut above.