Shohei Ohtani looked up at the stands from the hero interview podium at Kyocera Dome Osaka and smiled.

Ohtani had just hit two home runs, including one, incredibly, from one knee to straightaway center, in Samurai Japan’s win over the Hanshin Tigers in a warmup for the World Baseball Classic. His every move was met by roars from the crowd in his first game in Japan since leaving for the Los Angeles Angels after the 2017 NPB season.

Now it was time to have a little fun.