The Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs is a full circle moment for Japanese baseball.

About a dozen Japanese played in MLB last season, headlined by Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They came up through Nippon Professional Baseball and waited for free agency under the Japanese system, or were allowed to go earlier by their clubs.

No player in professional baseball history has slugged more home runs than the 868 that Oh hit over 22 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, the Japanese equivalent of the New York Yankees. “He was almost like a figment of my imagination and like a folk hero,” Roberts said. “A fictional character.”

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.

Chicago Cubs fans take pride in being underdogs, a role that ended briefly when they won the World Series in 2016 to end a 107-year drought between championships