With the Dodgers scheduled to play a Saturday exhibition contest against the Tokyo Dome’s normal tenant, the Yomuiri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, Roberts wondered whether there might actually be more Dodgers gear populating the crowd.

From the hundreds of fans eagerly awaiting their arrival at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Thursday to the more than 10,000 strong packed into the Tokyo Dome for their first practice, the Los Angeles Dodgers are soaking in rock star treatment in Japan.

Shohei Ohtani took the field at the Tokyo Dome to the roar of applause as a brief snippet of his walk-up song, "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco, played in the background. Never mind that Friday was just a workout day -- the excitement was real,