The Dodgers were playing the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea, last March when a bombshell was revealed: Ohtani's interpreter and close friend Ippei Mizuhara was being criminally investigated for ties to an illegal gambling ring and had stolen a huge amount of money from the baseball star.

The response to Shohei Ohtani at the Tokyo Dome Friday re-established a longstanding truth about the Dodgers: In Japan’s view, there is Ohtani and then there is everyone else.

Hundreds of fans at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, who lined up 10 deep and hoped to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani as he arrived on Thursday, saw nothing of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.

Ohtani gave the thousands of fans who filled the seats at Tokyo Dome exactly what they were hoping for with a two-run home run off Shosei Togo that was the highlight of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants in an exhibition.

Baseball mania reached fever pitch in Japan on Friday (March 14) with public appearances of national hero Shohei Ohtani and other Japanese players set to take part in MLB season-opening games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.

The Dodgers don’t start the season until next week, but fans are already showing up in Tokyo. Thousands came to the Tokyo Dome to watch the team’s first practice. Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times.