Shohei Ohtani's every step, swing and smile were intensely followed this week during his homecoming at the Tokyo Dome, an event that would make most mortals wilt under the pressure. The Japanese slugger was introduced before each at-bat to loud roars that continued until a few seconds before the pitch,

This week wasn’t about the defending World Series champions visiting Japan, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s transformation, or even Roki Sasaki’s major league debut.

I have seen an image of Shohei Ohtani, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, gazing out from a vending machine while standing in a field of green tea leaves, a bottle of Ito En iced tea in his left hand,