In Photos: Shohei Ohtani shares spotlight with legendary Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo at Dodger Stadium

In a photo shared by professional photographer Jon SooHoo on Instagram, Shohei Ohtani and Hideo Nomo, two of Japan’s baseball icons, shared a moment during a training session. Behind the lens was Will Ireton, Ohtani’s personal interpreter.

"'A Nomo Sho',"

And the old guy in the middle…,” photographer Jon SooHoo shared on Sunday.

Nomo, nicknamed 'The Tornado', was the first Japanese player to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2014. The 55-year-old flamethrower played seven seasons with the Dodgers, winning the Rookie of the Year (1995) and an All-Star invitation in his debut year.

He was a two-time strikeout leader (1995 and 2001) and has two no-hitters (1996 and 2001) on his record. Nomo represented his home country, Japan, in several international tournaments, including the Olympics (1988 Seoul, Silver) and the Asian Baseball Championship (1989 Seoul, Gold).

He is considered one of the pioneers in bringing the Japanese spirit to MLB and paved the road for youngsters like Yu Darvish, Yoshiobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.

Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese spirit to a new height

There’s a long list of Japanese players who impacted the league in their playing time. Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Masahiro Tanaka are some of many notable names that carried Japan’s baseball passion forward in MLB.

However, Shohei Ohtani is doing something different. He’s carrying the Japanese spirit his peers entrusted him with and taking it to a new height for the next generation.

His two-way playing style made him a sensation among both Japanese and American fans. At 30, he’s already a WBC champion (2023), two-time MVP, two-time Silver Slugger winner and four-time All-Star, breaking the records held by baseball greats like Babe Ruth in the process.

Over the years, his popularity surged across the league, making him one of the most demanding players both on and off the field. His 10-year, $700 million contract is clear evidence of that.

This year, he passed his manager Dave Roberts (7) for the most home runs for the Dodgers by a Japanese player. The star also became the MLB’s all-time home run leader as a Japan-born player, passing Hideki Matsui (175).

Ohtani currently leads the NL in runs (87), SLG (.617), OPS (1.005), OPS+ (179), total bases (276) and home runs (35), making him a strong candidate for this year’s MVP run. If he manages to win, he'll be the first-ever player in MLB history to win an MVP title by playing only DH.