The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced the recruitment of Ohtani on the 15th (Korea time), which is worth $700 million. At the joining press conference, Ohtani solved the public’s questions about his dog.
Otina’s dog was first exposed to the public during a video interview with MLB Network after he won the American League MVP award last month. Many people showed interest in his cute appearance crawling on the lap of the interviewing owner.
Since then, rumors have been circulating that the dog’s name has hints about Ohtani’s next destination, drawing more attention. Various speculations have poured out over the dog’s name.
When asked about his dog’s name, Ohtani replied, “decopping.” It is a Japanese name. Decopping (でこぴん) refers to a finger flicking on the forehead of an opponent while bouncing with the index or middle finger hanging on the thumb.
As the name of the dog was revealed, only Japanese people who were accustomed to the word “decopping” burst into laughter. It instantly became the No. 1 real-time trending topic on Twitter.
Many media in Japan have heavily covered articles about Ohtani’s dog name. 안전놀이터
Ohtani added that it would be difficult for Americans to pronounce, so in the United States, he introduced his original name, Decoy.
Decoy means “bait” and “windman.” Ohtani’s future has been veiled over the past month. In particular, it is a pretty fitting name, recalling that rumors circulated that he agreed to join the Toronto Blue Jays just before the announcement of the LA Dodgers.
After the dog’s name (decopping) became known, several fast-paced baseball fans found a video of Ohtani slapping his teammate on the forehead in the Los Angeles Angels dugout and posted it on social media.
The LA Dodgers, where the best star in the Major League joined, may hold a “finger flick” home run ceremony from next season.
