Maybe no one is extra excited for this 12 months’s extremely anticipated World Sequence than Los Angeles Dodgers superfan Max Homa.
However he faces a minor inconvenience this week. He’s in Japan, making his first look within the ZOZO Championship since 2019. Homa hopes to win and play nicely, however he can be preserving an in depth eye on his Dodgers, too, which can be considerably exhausting to do. Since Japanese Commonplace Time is 13 hours forward of the East Coast, the World Sequence will begin at 9 a.m. every day in Tokyo.
“It’s robust as a result of we additionally play within the morning,” Homa defined.
“We listened to the final sport in opposition to the Mets on the radio after which watched on our cellphone and at last discovered a stream of it.”
That labored out for Homa and his Dodgers, as they ended the Mets’ rollercoaster experience of a season in six video games within the NLCS. Led by Japanese celebrity Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers will face the New York Yankees, who received the American League Pennant for the primary time since 2009. These two groups final met in 1981, when the Dodgers received their first title in 16 years. Regardless of that being greater than 4 a long time in the past, no World Sequence matchup has occurred extra usually than Dodgers-Yankees in baseball historical past.
A historic rivalry can be renewed this week, and all of Japan—and the world, for that matter—may have their eyes on Ohtani, the perfect participant on the earth, a label even Yankees star Aaron Decide agreed with. The numbers assist that notion, too. Take into account this: since Sept. 19, two weeks earlier than the Postseason started, Ohtani has come to the plate on 23 events with runners in scoring place. In these cases, he’s batting a preposterous .783. He has 18 hits, seven of which got here by way of a house run. He additionally has 28 RBIs, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.
So, provided that Homa is taking part in in Ohtani’s native nation, which produced higher tv scores for the Dodgers than the American market, the 6-time PGA Tour winner known as this sequence a “dream state of affairs” for him.
“It’s actually cool being right here. Clearly, we have now two Japanese gamers on the Dodgers which can be great, one in all which is Ohtani, who’s the perfect baseball participant I’ve ever seen,” Homa mentioned.
“So it’s fairly cool to return right here. I’ve truly seen fairly just a few L.A. hats. It’s fairly neat to be in Japan when the perfect baseball participant on the earth is Japanese, and he’s on the staff I root for. It’s form of a dream state of affairs. I might be mendacity if I mentioned I want I wasn’t residence slightly bit so I might go to the sport, or a sport, however yeah, it’s neat to be right here.”
The opposite participant Homa alluded to is pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who carried a 3.00 ERA and a 7-2 report via his first 12 months with the Dodgers this previous season.
So it’s no marvel why the Dodgers will start the Fall Traditional as slight favorites in opposition to the Bronx Bombers.
“It’s been nice, the run they’ve been on,” Homa added.
“It’s been very enjoyable to observe.”
It should be enjoyable to take heed to as nicely, particularly whereas in Japan.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying Via. You should definitely take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.
