Tokyo (CNN) — Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani has turned millions of Japanese residents into fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, so much so that more than a tenth of the country’s population has been tuning in to the World Series, giving the Fall Classic better TV ratings in Japan than in the United States.
The excitement was evident in a Tokyo bar on Wednesday morning, Japan time, as fans chanted for their homegrown hero.
“Shohei! Shohei! Shohei!” erupted in Fields Shibuya, a sports dining bar, as the All-Star player stepped to the plate against the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series, later turning into deafening cheers when the Dodgers’ designated hitter ripped a single.
“Ohtani’s performance is high level,” said Ryosuke Matsumoto, 22, who was among the crowd in the sports bar. “I’m very happy that a Japanese player is doing so well in the Major…
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