By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Baseball fans eager to get their hands on a bobblehead of Los Angeles slugger Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy began lining up more than seven hours before the giveaway game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
The “Shohei & Decoy” figurine depicts a smiling Ohtani holding his one-year-old Dutch Kooikerhondje, who became a star in his own right when he was seated with the Japanese sensation when he learned he had won his second MVP award last year.
Videos posted on social media showed a seemingly endless line of blue and white clad Dodgers fans enduring hot conditions in the hopes of taking home the prized bobblehead.
Fans began arriving around noon for the night game against the Baltimore Orioles and the long lines made it difficult for even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to make it into the stadium, according to MLB.com.
“I’m just happy that I made it,” he joked.
“It’s unbelievable. I don’t know if it was Shohei or Decoy or a combo, but there’s a high demand for this dang bobblehead. It took me forever to get inside Dodger Stadium.
“There was a long line. If you plan on coming, you better have already left.”
Ohtani, 30, has more than delivered for the Dodgers since being acquired in the offseason on a record 10-year, $700 million contract.
The two-way player is not pitching this year as he recovers from offseason elbow surgery but as a designated hitter he has 41 home runs and stolen 40 bases and last week become the sixth member of Major League Baseball’s coveted 40-40 club.
He also owns a .294 batting average for the NL West-leading Dodgers and is the frontrunner to win a third MVP award in a season where Dodgers fans are yearning for a World Series triumph.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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