A small group of about 60 fans gathered on Wednesday morning for a watch party at the city hall in Shohei Ohtani’s hometown in northern Japan.
Most of them wore blue with the interlocking LA on their caps to celebrate a World Series title for Ohtani, the Dodgers, and their rural community.
They left feeling disappointed.
The Yankees defeated the Dodgers 11-4, but the spirit in Oshu City, located around 300 miles (500 kilometers) north of Tokyo, remained strong.
“I would have been happy for the Dodgers to win all four games, but I didn’t mind losing one,” said fan Yoshiyuki Kosaka. “The Dodgers still have the advantage and I want them to win the World Series title tomorrow.”
Fans believed their local superstar and the Dodgers—who he played Little League and high school baseball with—would bounce back and win the series in Game 5. The Dodgers lead 3-1 and are still favored in the best-of-seven series.
“The Dodgers were in a good mood yesterday and I hoped they would keep the momentum going and win today,” another fan, Yoko Chiba, said. “But it ended not with the result I was hoping for.”
The fans made noise with their thunder sticks for a minute in the seventh inning while Ohtani was batting and the Dodgers were trailing 6-4. The plastic noisemakers even had an encouraging message on the side: “The Pride of Oshu City.”
It didn’t help. Ohtani struck out, and the noise faded away, reflecting the mood of the morning.
Oshu Mayor Jun Kuranari expressed confidence in Ohtani.
“Together with our local people, I hope that Ohtani, who is from here, will hit a smashing home run tomorrow,” he said.
