STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
All right, Michel, did you see Game 4 of the World Series last night?
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
OK. I'm going to confess, as a native New Yorker, I was afraid to watch.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: So...
INSKEEP: Well, I was up late working, and so then at the end, I did catch the eighth inning. Yankees down three games to nothing about to be eliminated. And then boom, boom. Home run. Home run. They win the game 11-4.
MARTIN: OK, so the Yankees stay alive, but in Japan, people are still rooting for one of the Dodgers. NPR's Rebecca Rosman reports from a Tokyo pub.
REBECCA ROSMAN: The pub, a dimly lit British pub on the north side of Tokyo, may not seem like the top choice for a World Series watch party. But for four mornings over the last week, the bar has opened special at 9 a.m. to welcome a sea of baseball fans so they can watch the live games in real time. Some are here for the Yankees. Even more are here for the Dodgers - and for one man in particular, star Dodgers player and national hero Shohei Ohtani.
HIKARU SHIMADA: Ohtani is world treasure.
ROSMAN: World treasure is how 29-year-old Hikaru Shimada puts it. And it's not just for Ohtani's physical skills or the comparisons to Babe Ruth. He's played as both a star hitter and pitcher. Ohtani's greatness is really about his character, says fan Nami Kiyokawa.
NAMI KIYOKAWA: He's very humble, and he's kind, and, you know, he's a good person, and he's also a great player. So I don't know, he's just attractive.
ROSMAN: That may also be why Ohtani has won American League MVP twice. What Ohtani is still waiting for, though, is his first World Series title. By the bottom of the eighth inning, it's become clear Game 4 won't be the moment for that win, but the momentum here in Japan remains palpable. Game 2 of the World Series alone attracted nearly 16 million viewers in Japan, making it the most watched MLB postseason game in the country's history. John Lee, an American fan who is in Tokyo for work, says he's one of many people here who have developed an overnight routine in the last four days.
JOHN LEE: Stay out till 6, get a coffee, watch the game at 9, sleep from 1 to 5, and repeat it. So that's been my week.
ROSMAN: Lee hasn't even bought a flight home yet. He says he's that committed to watching the final game in Japan.
Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, Tokyo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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