Just as Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela ignited fan support in the Latino community in the 1980s, Shohei Ohtani has done the same for Los Angeles’ Asian community.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When the Dodgers won the World Series Wednesday, Little Tokyo erupted in celebration. And it\u2019s not just because of Shohei. Manager Dave Roberts is Japanese American while NLCS MVP Tommy Edman is half Korean. There\u2019s also Japanese Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.<\/p>\n
Shu Tamaura is a Dodger fan who lives in a suburb of Tokyo. He said many Japanese baseball fans cheer for the whole team, but he said there\u2019s something special about Shohei.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud of him not only for his extraordinary performance but also because of his personality,\u201d Tamaura said. \u201cThose virtues he represents are the virtues we embrace in the Japanese communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Little Tokyo, an Ohtani mural covers one side of the Miyako Hotel. Akira Yuhara, the general manager, said Shohei has his business booming.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle Tokyo is very popular now,\u201d Yuhara said. \u201cI saw probably triple times Japanese guests coming to here.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those Japanese Guests is Aki Kuroki.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dodgers won the World Series like 10 minutes before I left my home,\u201d Kuroki said.<\/p>\n
He lives in Tokyo and arrived in Los Angeles after the Dodgers won the World Series. He had tickets to game six that won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go to a parade instead,\u201d Kuroki said with a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just as Dodger great Fernando Valenzuela ignited fan support in the Latino community in the 1980s, Shohei Ohtani has done the same for Los Angeles’ Asian community…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n