The Los Angeles Dodgers won on Tuesday. That in and of itself is not a surprise — the Dodgers are the defending World Series champions, after all, and they have been the most successful team in baseball by winning percentage over the past decade, coinciding with manager Dave Roberts’ tenure in the dugout.
What did surprise MLB viewers and Dodgers aficionados was that the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs occurred thousands of miles from Chicago, or from Los Angeles. The win kicked off the two-game “Tokyo Series” in Japan, the first two official games of the 2025 season and LA‘s World Series title defense.
Ohtani admits nerves over returning to his homeland
Dodgers superstar and reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani doesn’t get flustered by much — he signed a record-breaking $700 million contract with Los Angeles in 2023 and proceeded to become the first player ever to his 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season. But playing in Japan to begin the 2025 season made him nervous, as he admitted to MLB Network following the game.
“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this nervous playing a game,” Ohtani admitted, five months after he helped the Dodgers win the World Series in his first-ever Fall Classic.
Despite the anxiety, Ohtani racked up two hits, including a double in the ninth inning, and scored two runs in Los Angeles’ victory. It showed that Ohtani is merely picking up where left off in 2024 — and with the 30-year-old set to return to the pitching mound soon, his value to the Dodgers amid their title defense will grow even larger.
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