Baseball fans eager to get their hands on a bobblehead of Los Angeles slugger Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy began lining up more than seven hours before the giveaway game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
The ‘Shohei & Decoy’ figurine depicts a smiling Ohtani holding his one-year-old Dutch Kooikerhondje, who became a star in his own right when he was seated with the Japanese sensation when he learned he had won his second MVP award last year.
Videos posted on social media showed a seemingly endless line of blue and white clad Dodgers fans enduring hot conditions in the hopes of taking home the prized bobblehead.
Teoscar Hernández hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the third inning, Ohtani went deep leading off the game on his second bobblehead night and the Dodgers beat the Orioles 6-4.
Ohtani singled and scored in the third and scored again in the fifth, giving the Japanese superstar a career-high 104 runs this season, bettering his mark of 103 set in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani blasted his 42nd homer off Corbin Burnes and stole his 41st and 42nd bases in pursuit of becoming the first major leaguer in history with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.
He and dog Decoy handled the ceremonial first pitch in front of a sellout crowd of 53,290. Upon Ohtani’s signal at home plate, the dog carried the ball in his mouth from the mound to the plate, where he and his owner shared a high five.
Fans began arriving around noon for the night game and the long lines made it difficult for even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to make it into the stadium, according to MLB.com.
“I’m just happy that I made it,” he joked.
“It’s unbelievable. I don’t know if it was Shohei or Decoy or a combo, but there’s a high demand for this dang bobblehead. It took me forever to get inside Dodger Stadium.
“There was a long line. If you plan on coming, you better have already left.”
Ohtani, 30, has more than delivered for the Dodgers since being acquired in the offseason on a record 10-year, $700m contract.
The two-way player is not pitching this year as he recovers from offseason elbow surgery but as a designated hitter he has 41 home runs and stolen 40 bases and last week became the sixth member of Major League Baseball’s coveted 40-40 club.
He also owns a .294 batting average for the NL West-leading Dodgers and is the frontrunner to win a third MVP award in a season where Dodgers fans are yearning for a World Series triumph.
