Ten hours before the first pitch between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Guardians, there was a mile-long line outside of Dodger Stadium waiting to get into the building.
Tonight, Shohei Ohtani will step onto the mound for the first time this MLB regular season, hoping to have a campaign strong enough to win him the National League Cy Young.
But that’s not the reason for the incredibly long line.
It’s actually due to the Japanese pitcher with Cy Young hopes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching on Wednesday night.
In collaboration with the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Dodgers are giving the first 40,000 fans at tonight’s game an exclusive Yoshi (the green dinosaur) bobblehead wearing Yamamoto’s jersey.
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Since coming over from Japan and the Orix Buffaloes two years ago, Yamamoto has had Super Mario Bros. music played during his outings and after strikeouts, linking him to the ever-popular franchise and its green mascot.
Although the Dodgers generally have extensive queues to get into the building for marquee bobblehead nights, this might be their biggest, with everyone (including non-fans of the Dodgers) trying to get the exclusive collectible.
An hour before the game kicks off in Los Angeles, a slew of resellers on eBay have already secured the Yoshi bobblehead and are trying to sell it to fans who couldn’t make it to the stadium on Tuesday night.
The price?
Each one with photos from the ballpark is going for $200, and it could go even higher by the time the night comes to a close.
Ohtani, who is famous for having career performances when it’s his own bobblehead evening, will see what he can do on the night of his close friend’s (Yoshinobu, not Yoshi the dinosaur) big night.
