America's Pastime is breaking records in Japan. With Shohei Ohtani playing in his first World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, fans in his home country are tuning into the action in droves. Game 2 averaged 15.9 million viewers in Japan, a postseason record in Japan, according to The Athletic.

Fittingly, Game 2 broke the previous record of 14.4 million, set the night before with Game 1 between Ohtani's Dodgers and the New York Yankees. Those numbers surpass the viewership that the series has drawn in the United States. An estimated 13.68 million viewers tuned into the first two games in the States, also per The Athletic. That mark ticks up to 14.55 million once Spanish broadcasts' viewers are added, with both games shown on Fox Deportes and Game 1 airing on Univision. The overall numbers are the best mark for a World Series since 2017, when the Dodgers fell to the Houston Astros.

If this is, in fact, the “litmus test” for baseball's popularity, as ESPN's Jeff Passan suggested it would be, MLB appears to have passed.

“It's gonna be really good to have that baseline to understand, OK, just how much has the natural interest in the sport waned in recent years and how much room is there to grow beyond that as you try to bring it back from being more of a local, more of a parochial game than it’s ever been before and take it back to the national leviathan that it was once upon a time,” Passan said before the World Series began.

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Shohei Ohtani looks to make his World Series mark with the Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) looks on in an interview after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets in game six of the NLCS to advance to the World Series in the 2024 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium.
Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Dodgers enter Game 3 at Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 World Series lead, but Ohtani has yet to really get going. Ohtani went 1-8 with a walk and two strikeouts over the first two games, and his Fall Classic experience nearly ended early. In the 7th inning of Game 2, he appeared to injure his shoulder on a slide into second base.

Manager Dave Roberts, however, eased any concerns between games, saying he did not expect Ohtani to miss any time. He is in the lineup for Game 3, penciled into his usual leadoff spot against Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt. Ohtani is 1-3 in his career against Schmidt, but that one hit left the yard. The presumptive NL MVP hit 54 long-balls during the regular season, and though he has “only” three home runs in 50 postseason at bats this season, he still has an .863 OPS and is getting on base better than 40% of the time. The best player in the game will have to break out eventually.