Long before Tsuyoshi Shinjo was Big Boss or the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager, he was an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants who made history as the first Japanese player to appear in the World Series.

Shinjo got the ball rolling for Japanese stars in MLB’s Fall Classic in 2002, and the list of Japanese players to vie for the title eventually grew to 13 in 2020, when Yoshitomo Tsutsugo made it with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Two more players will join the club this year when superstar talent Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto take the field for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will battle the New York Yankees for the title.