Shohei Ohtani was the second-biggest star at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.
Instead, the Hollywood spotlight shined bright on his beloved dog Decoy, who was assigned the first pitch duties before the Los Angeles Dodgers' clash against the Baltimore Orioles.
With Ohtani squatting behind home plate, Decoy—wearing a No. 17 Ohtani jersey—fetched the baseball on the mound and brought it back to his All-Star Dog dad.
Decoy fetched the first pitch tonight for Shohei Ohtani! 🥹🐶 pic.twitter.com/zD7QsbX5SI
— MLB (@MLB) August 29, 2024
Shohei Ohtani’s dog delivered the first pitch on their bobblehead night pic.twitter.com/C5n53Xl2AY
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) August 29, 2024
It was a special night for Ohtani's sidekick, as the Dodgers gave away a "Shohei and Decoy" bobblehead Wednesday night depicting the two-way superstar holding his dog. A limited number of those figurines were painted gold, which had hundreds of Dodgers fans lining up at the ballpark as early as 11 a.m. PT—more than eight hours before the scheduled first pitch at 7:10 p.m. PT.
Decoy had plenty to cheer about once the game began, as Ohtani clobbered his 42nd homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the first.
THERE GOES DECOY'S DAD. pic.twitter.com/uNNgHI30sP
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 29, 2024
It doesn't get much better than that.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani's Dog Decoy Adorably Handles First Pitch Duties at Dodgers-Orioles.
