Shohei Ohtani is one of six players wearing a special patch for the 2025 MLB season, honoring the league’s global ambassadors.

If MLB can get Japan to follow all its teams, “We do believe there are payoffs in the B’s: billions,” commissioner Rob Manfred said.

But the Japanese players who were playing in front of their home country at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday handled any jitters they had quite well, delivering in clutch moments as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1, in Major League Baseball’s season opener.