It was the overriding theme of last October, an intangible factor that yielded triumphant results.
During their run to last year’s World Series, the Dodgers repeatedly cited their clubhouse culture and roster-wide camaraderie as a key behind their postseason success. They knew it sounded cliche. But they felt it was transformational.
Thus, during this week’s season-opening trip to Japan, when their title defense will begin with a two-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome, the Dodgers have been intentional about forming similarly tight bonds again.
“We played our best baseball at the end of the year, and I felt like that was when we were really close and everybody was pulling from the same cloth,” veteran utilityman Chris Taylor said. “Everybody was kind of all in on the same mission. And we talked a little bit about taking that attitude from day one this year, and trying to roll over that same closeness that we had from last season."
In Tokyo, that message has been reinforced again and again.
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On Saturday afternoon, shortstop Mookie Betts led a players-only meeting in the Tokyo Dome’s underground bullpen — even though he won’t be able to play on the trip while recovering from a virus he began battling shortly before the team left for Japan.
“Was just talking to the boys,” said Betts, who gathered the team around him and laid out general goals and expectations for the club in 2025. “Nothing crazy.”
On Sunday night, it was Shohei Ohtani’s turn to organize a team gathering, planning a private sushi and yakitori dinner for the group with the help of fellow Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
“In baseball-player terms, we call it show dinners,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And they said it was like the best show dinner they’ve ever had.”
During the meal, the Dodgers were treated to a traditional “tuna cutting show,” where three sushi chefs wielding several-foot-long knives sliced a nearly 500-pound fish into chunks. They were encouraged by their Japanese teammates to sample some more exotic local cuisine, including sea urchin (known as uni) and hairy crab (which did not earn the approval of first baseman Freddie Freeman).
Most important, though, they got their most personal experience with Japanese culture yet — much to the delight, teammates said, of the night’s superstar host.
“I was talking to Sho for a little bit, and even he was super excited,” reliever Alex Vesia said. “I know it means a lot.”
“I just think that it's their sense of nationalism and pride in their country, that they wanted to put their best foot forward to welcome their teammates to Japanese cuisine and show hospitality,” Roberts added. “I think there's power in guys having a shared experience together. I think that's pretty cool."
The business end of this trip is still to come, of course. On Tuesday, Yamamoto will square off against Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga in the first all-Japanese opening day pitching matchup in MLB history.
“To be on a stage like this in Tokyo, Japanese pitchers facing off on the field, it’s an incredible opportunity,” Yamamoto said.
On Wednesday, Sasaki will make his highly anticipated big league debut.
“It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I was in school,” Sasaki said. “So to be able to make my debut in the Tokyo Dome is something my high school self would have been very surprised about.”
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And all week, attention will be fixed closely on Ohtani, who will be playing his first-ever major league games back in his home country.
“Having five [Japanese players in these games],” Ohtani said, including Imanaga and yet another Japanese Cubs star, outfielder Seiya Suzuki, “is a big deal.”
But until then, the Dodgers are hoping to make other gains off the field, using this opening trip as a way to establish new connections in their clubhouse, and recreate the culture that carried them to a championship last fall.
“I do think the team-building, the player-building, the family building, all that stuff started last year in Seoul and continued to galvanize as the season went on,” Roberts said, referring to the Dodgers’ opening trip to South Korea this time a year ago. “There's a lot to that, as well as the postseason. … But I do think that an experience like this certainly galvanizes, absolutely."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
