SI

Epic Agricultural Mural of Shohei Ohtani and Dog Decoy Goes Viral Amid Tokyo Series

Tim Capurso|
Ohtani walks through the dugout with his dog Decoy.
Ohtani walks through the dugout with his dog Decoy. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Dodgers

In the first game of the Tokyo Series, Shohei Ohtani, in his return to his native country of Japan, helped lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. And Ohtani continues to make his country proud, as he belted a two-run home run in an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday, then rapped two hits in Tuesday's season-opening victory.

Amidst the Ohtani-mania, a photo of a stunning agricultural mural, which was depicted to honor the Dodgers superstar and his beloved dog Decoy, went viral after it was shown on the Fox broadcast of the Dodgers-Cubs game.

Check out the epic mural.

The roughly 3,000-square-meter mural is made from seven varieties of rice, which were planted by a local volunteer group in his hometown of Oshu, Iwate Prefecture in June of 2024. The mural also features the phrase "Let's play baseball."

It's no surprise that such an impressive tribute is going viral once again.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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