Before Saturday night's game at Coors Field, Shohei Ohtani was involved in one of the coolest pregame moments we've ever seen.
After finishing a throwing session, the Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star was told about a woman sitting nearby in a wheelchair. So he walked over, knelt down and introduced himself.
That woman was Momoyo Nakamoto Kelley — a 100-year-old survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
Kelley, who was 19 years old when the bomb was dropped on Aug. 9, 1945, later immigrated to the United States and now lives in Salt Lake City. A lifelong baseball fan, she had traveled to Colorado with family, hoping to see Ohtani in person.
Mission accomplished.
"A dream come true," Kelley called it.
Ohtani signed a baseball for her and posed for photos.
Kelley's grandson, Patrick Faust, helped arrange the visit as a way to celebrate her milestone birthday.
"Just the idea that 100 is such a big number," Faust told MLB.com. "I don’t think there are many people [still alive from] when the atom bomb was dropped. She’s had a terrible experience, a big one. So we wanted to [do something] special."
Kelley's love for the game — and for the growing number of Japanese players in MLB — made the meeting even more meaningful.
"Within the past few years, especially, with all the Japanese players in the game, she’s been really into it," Faust said.
She didn't just meet Ohtani, either. Kelley also spent time with Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki and Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, both of whom she has followed closely for years.
"I like so many of the players," she beamed. "[Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, Sasaki, and Sugano-san."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was moved by the experience.
"It was really a pleasure meeting her," Roberts said. "She was 19 when the a-bomb dropped in Nagasaki. And it’s by a miracle that she lived to tell her story. Just seeing her is a piece of history."
Dodgers broadcaster Stephen Nelson added: "It’s humbling. Just being ‘Yonsei’ [a great-grandchild of a Japanese immigrant], you’re standing on a lot of shoulders. For her to experience what she went through and endure that, and come here to make a better life for herself and future generations … we can’t even fathom that, right?"
Kelley herself has vivid memories of that day in 1945. She described the explosion as being "like the sky was on fire."
And yet, 81 years later, she found herself on a baseball field in Colorado, creating new (and much happier) memories with her family.
from The Latest & Most Breaking News With OutKick https://ift.tt/7ceNd5O