Hours before the Dodgers-Orioles game on Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani and his furry bobblehead friend formed a long line outside Dodger Stadium.
Videos and photos posted on social media showed fans lining up from noon (PST) to watch the game, which doesn't start until 7:10 p.m.
Gold bobblehead dolls of Ohtani holding a decoy in his arms were distributed to the first 40,000 fans who entered the stadium.
Naturally, Ohtani was the first to receive his bobblehead when he arrived at the stadium before the game.
The Dodgers captured the moment in a video posted to social media.
Ohtani also brought a decoy with him when he arrived at Dodger Stadium.
Wearing white T-shirts, blue shorts and a backwards hat, Ohtani and a decoy player posed for photos with the bobblehead doll.
Outside, fans waited anxiously in long lines to get their hands on one of the coveted giveaways. ESPN reported that fans had been lining up for more than three hours before kickoff.
Fox LA aerial video Long lines of fans were visible at Stadium Washington, and video from NBC Los Angeles showed massive traffic jams as fans tried to exit the freeway at 2:50 a.m. local time.
Then, just before the game began, the dog threw the ceremonial first pitch, sending it toward Ohtani.
Ohtani is one of the most recognizable players in baseball, not just in Los Angeles but around the world.
The decoy became a hot topic during the offseason after Ohattoni withheld the dog's name for some time.
He finally revealed it at his inaugural press conference in Los Angeles.
“I thought it would be hard for Americans to pronounce,” Ohtani told reporters in December about the decoy's name.
