MLB/ Ohtani-mania breaks out again with 2nd giveaway of bobblehead featuring Dodgers slugger and his rb leipzig vs bayerndog

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 29, 2024 at 11:25 JST

• Share
• Tweet list

• Print

Fans line up to enter and get a bobblehead of Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani prior to a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles, Aug. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES--The second Shohei Ohtani bobblehead giveaway at Dodger Stadium is proving just as popular as the first.

Or, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” as Yogi Berra liked to take credit for saying.

Long lines of cars were backed up on roads around the stadium five hours before the team hosted the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

Some drivers took to the wrong side of the road to negotiate a blocked intersection near one of the stadium gates where no traffic control officers were posted.

“I’m just happy that I made it,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “It took me forever to get inside Dodger Stadium. I actually picked up one of the Dodger workers. She was laboring up the hill so I picked her up and gave her a little lift.”

Only the first 40,000 fans received the bobblehead, which depicts a smiling Ohtani holding his dog named Decoy (Its Japanese name is Dekopin). Some gold versions were randomly mixed in.

“Man, there is a high demand for this dang bobblehead,” Roberts said.

Ohtani carried Decoy to the mound for ceremonial first pitch duties. He placed the ball on the rubber and took up a catching position behind home plate. After Ohtani gave a signal, the Dutch Kooikerhondje picked up the ball in his mouth and carried it to Ohtani.

The crowd cheered wildly as Ohtani smiled broadly.

“He’s having fun with all the success, obviously, and promoting of him and his dog,” Roberts said.

Fans, many of them Japanese, waited patiently under a hot sun in a line that stretched well away from the main gate, before it opened.

The first Ohtani bobblehead giveaway in May — featuring him in his batting stance — attracted a sellout crowd of 53,527 — the largest in the majors this season and the most at Dodger Stadium since Sept. 20, 2019. The promotion snarled traffic for hours ahead of game time.

Ohtani walked, popped out and struck out that night in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

The Dodgers have scheduled one more Ohtani giveaway to mark the two-way superstar’s first season in Los Angeles after six years in Anaheim with the Angels. The September promotion will be a shirt. The team gave away hats in July.

Ohtani joined the Dodgers last December, signing a $700 million, 10-year contract. Last week, he became the fastest player in major league history — and sixth ever — with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season — and he achieved the feat in the same game.

He’s now taking aim at something that’s never been done before: 50 homers and 50 stolen bases.

Roberts said he is still surprised by the mania that surrounds Ohtani.

“When you’re in it day to day, he’s a baseball player that just wants to play,” the manager said, “but when you see him impact and move the needle like he does and has, I’ve just never seen anything like this. It is incredible.”

• ·日本の次戦の相手、バーレーンが“金星”　敵地で強豪オーストラリアに１―０で勝利　
• ·【中京１Ｒ・２歳未勝利】ウィルサヴァイブ差し切り勝ち　団野大成騎手「ポテンシャルを感じていた」
• ·【動画】絶好調の浅野翔吾が早出練習に参加
• ·オリックス・エスピノーザ―ロッテ・種市篤暉…スタメン発表
• ·「顔好き」「多聞くん」のスタッフになりきろう、ブルゾン当たる花ゆめのキャンペーン
• ·【大学野球】東農大北海道Ｖ８へ快勝発進、先発・渡辺恵多が自己最速の１４７キロで４回無失点
• ·前夜代打と交代の吉田正尚が意地見せ９回に適時二塁打　チームの完封負けを阻止
• ·【巨人】浅野翔吾に金メダルパワー　パリ五輪体操金の岡慎之助、杉野正尭と対面
• ·レアル、来夏の補強ターゲットはロドリ　マンＣのスペイン代表ＭＦ獲得に全力尽くす
• ·影山優佳、黒縁メガネをかけたオフショ公開＆ファンに向けて「無理してもいいけど、無理しすぎないでね」
• ·「恋はカーテンコールのあとで。」まるで女神様…舞台上で見た憧れの女の子の正体は
• ·【競輪】番手の三谷将太に期待！通算２００勝へあと１勝…京王閣Ｆ１後閑信一杯＆報知杯
• ·東京Ｖ・綱島悠斗が国士舘大１学年後輩の望月ヘンリー海輝の代表入りに「すごい刺激になるし、自分も目指している」
• ·大谷翔平が右肘手術後初で１年ぶりのブルペン入り　劇的４０―４０達成翌日に投手リハビリステップアップ
• ·谷まりあ、ウエスト大胆露出のトップスで視線独占！ファン「すごいボディー！」「完璧」
• ·【大学野球】東日本国際大が好発進、ドラフト候補のエース・藤井優矢が貫禄の投球