The Japanese Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto make it a real World Series

The New York Yankees face more than the Los Angeles Dodgers in a real World Series.

The 2024 Dodgers will be led by three Japanese-born men. Everyone knows the super thug Shohei Ohtani. Most fans know the right-handed hitter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The most important part of the Dodgers' success also comes from Japan. Manager Dave Roberts.

Ohtani's exploits are legendary. Yamamoto made a lasting impression in his first season in Major League Baseball this year, even if he didn't come close to matching the hype he received when he signed a 12-year, $325 million contract last December . That was a few weeks after Ohtani signed a record 10-year, $700 million contract.

Now the Billionaire Brothers take on the mighty Yankees, seeking a 28th championship – but for the first time since 2009. They will increase the number of former Japanese professional players to make it to a World Series to 15, including two former Yankees who won it all in New York pinstripes.

The Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela also have players on the two teams' 40-man rosters.

MVP, MVP!

That's the chant of Yankees fans when Aaron Judge comes up to bat and of Dodgers fans when Ohtani takes the field.

Judge hit .322 with 58 home runs and 144 RBI. Unbelievable, Ohtani could have been better. In his first year with Dodger Blue, he became the first player to hit more than 50 home runs and stolen bases in a season. The 30-year-old hit .310 with 54 home runs, 59 steals (in 63 attempts), as well as 134 runs and 130 RBI.

The MVP chant rang out in New York in 2009 for the only Japanese player to be named World Series MVP. Hideki Matsui received the award after batting .615 (8 for 13) with 3 home runs and 8 RBI as the Yankees defeated the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

In Game 1, Matsui singled and homered against future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez for a 3-1 win. In Game 3, he hit a narrow home run against reliever Brett
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Myers with an 8-5 win.

In Game 6, he hit a two-run home run and a two-run single against Martinez, along with a two-run double off reliever JA Happ in the 7-3 triumph.

The first winner

Hideki Irabu became the first Japanese player to win a World Series championship ring. He was part of the Yankees' title teams in 1998 and 1999, but did not start in either series. During the regular season that year, he had records of 13-9 and 11-7, respectively.

Boston's Mound Foursome

Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima helped the Boston Red Sox win in 2007. Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa did the same in 2013.

Matsuzaka came to America with great fanfare for a playing field he called “Gyroball.” He became the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game when he went 5 1/3 innings in Game 3. From then on, Boston's batters and bullpen won 10-5 against the Colorado Rockies.

Okajima worked in three games of the Red Sox' sweep, allowing three runs over 3 2/3 innings. The left-hander compiled a 17-8 record with 6 saves and a 3.09 ERA in 266 regular-season MLB games, all in relief through 2013.

After his MVP performance during the 2013 ALCS, closer Uehara saved two games in the World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Overall, in 13 appearances and 13 2/3 innings this fall, he gave up 1 run, 7 hits and zero walks while recording 16 strikeouts and 7 saves.

Tazawa was just as strong as a reliever in 13 postseason games this year, giving up 1 run, 1 walk and 6 fannings over 7 1/3 innings.

The others

The first Japanese player to appear in a World Series was San Francisco Giants outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo. In the first game of 2002, he went 1-for-3 as designated hitter. The Giants lost to the Anaheim Angels in seven games.

Norichika Aoki received a ring from the Houston Astros in 2017 but was traded before the postseason. He went 1-14 for the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series.

Taguchi hit .200 (3 for 15) for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 and 2006 World Series. He was part of Philadelphia's title team in 2008, but did not play in the World Series that year.

Rookie second baseman Tadahito Iguchi won the 2005 World Series with the Chicago White Sox. He hit .167 (3 for 18).

Kazuo Matsui hit .294 for the Rockies in the 2007 World Series loss to Boston. In 2013, he won the Japan Series as captain of the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles.

Akinori Iwamura hit .263 (5-for-19) as an infielder for Tampa Bay in the 2008 World Series loss to Philadelphia.

The last Japanese player to play in the World Series was Yoshi Tsutsugo with the Rays in 2020. He went 0-3 in a six-game loss to the Dodgers.

Winning as a player and manager

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts' father was a Marine stationed in Okinawa. He married a Japanese woman and David Ray Roberts was born there in 1972.

Roberts never played in a World Series, but was an integral part of Boston's historic championship in 2004. The Red Sox lost the first three games of the ALCS to the Yankees and trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Roberts, who was 38 of 41 on steal attempts during the regular season, ran tight. He took second place and scored the equalizer with a single goal.

The Red Sox won that game in 12 innings, added three more incredible victories, and then defeated St. Louis for their first World Series title in 86 years. Roberts watched.

This is his fourth time as a manager taking part in the Fall Classic. The Dodgers lost to Houston in 2017 and Boston in 2018 before beating Tampa Bay in 2020.