For nine-year-old Keita Sakuma, Thursday must have seemed like a dream come true. The youngster was among hundreds who entered a contest to be featured as part of the first Yoshinobu Yamamoto bobblehead doll giveaway at Dodger Stadium, and was chosen to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
In his video entry, Keita said Yamamoto is his favorite player and he dreams of playing for the Dodgers in the big leagues someday.
When the time came for the big moment, Keita didn’t merely toss the ball. With the Japanese star himself doing the catching, the kid gave a pitch-perfect imitation of Yamamoto’s start-stop delivery and fired a fastball over the plate.