Baseball fever swept through Tokyo on Tuesday as the MLB season got underway, offering fans a rare opportunity to glimpse homegrown star Shohei Ohtani in action.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a little extra zip on his fastball. Shohei Ohtani even admitted to some nerves. There was little doubt this was no ordinary baseball game.

The baseball-mad country of Japan greeted perhaps the brightest star it has ever produced with silence. When Shohei Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box to open Major League Baseball’s season against his fellow countryman,

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

That's a point of pride at home, but also a reason to worry. What happens to baseball in Japan, to the country's pro league, if the stars all leave for the United States? About a dozen Japanese played in MLB last season,