Fastball

Snow Sculpture of Shohei Ohtani and His Dog Going Viral as Dodgers ST Opens

The real Shohei Ohtani has reported to spring training for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a snow sculpture version of Ohtani (and his dog) that's on display in Japan has gone viral on the internet.

Brady Farkas

Snow Sculpture of Shohei Ohtani and His Dog Going Viral as Dodgers ST Opens
Snow Sculpture of Shohei Ohtani and His Dog Going Viral as Dodgers ST Opens /
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File this under "things you didn't know you needed to see" on this Thursday afternoon:

A snow sculpture of Los Angeles Dodgers' superstar Shohei Ohtani and his dog is going viral at a snow festival in Ohtani's home nation of Japan.

You can see the picture below, courtesy of the @MLB "X" account:

Yup, that's pretty lifelike if we don't say so ourselves. Ohtani's dog is named "Decoy" and he gained international popularity this offseason while hanging out with Ohtani as he learned he won the MVP Award for the second time in three years.

The real Ohtani, of course, is present at Dodgers spring training. The team reported to spring training today because they begin the season a week earlier than nearly every other team. They'll play in Korea against the Padres on March 20 and 21.

Ohtani is looking to follow up an incredible season in 2024. In his last year with the Angels, he hit an American League-best 44 home runs and won that MVP Award. He also helped Team Japan win the World Baseball Classic championship.

Ohtani, 29, is already a three-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year and a two-time Silver Slugger winner. He's a lifetime .274 hitter with 171 home runs.

He is a six-year veteran who has spent his entire career with the Angels. Ohtani is also one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he can't pitch this entire season because of elbow surgery that he underwent at the end of last season.

He'll spend this entire year at designated hitter for the Dodgers, who figure to be a World Series favorite.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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