As supporters of the Los Angeles Dodgers flocked to the parade in Los Angeles to celebrate the team’s World Series triumph on Friday, many of them had their sights set on Freddie Freeman, the team’s most valuable player. Decoy Ohtani, Shohei Ohtani’s dog, was the Dodgers’ most valued pet, and he was also a candidate for the Most Valuable Player award.
Decoy Ohtani cradled a Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, also known as a Dutch Kooikerhondje, in his arms on the uppermost portion of a double-decker parade bus. This Kooikerhondje has garnered a lot of attention lately.
The Dodgers and dog fans alike have grown to rely on Decoy as a constant companion. The news reached Ohtani that he became the first player in Major League Baseball history to receive two unanimous votes for Most Valuable Player. Ohtani achieved this feat while he was playing for the Los Angeles Angels. The dog was sitting on Ohtani’s lap.
Decoy Ohtani also included Decoy in his post-victory Instagram post, which included pictures of the dog taking a stroll through the autumn foliage and appearing drowsy in bed right after pictures of the Dodgers celebrating with champagne.
After Ohtani went on to accept a record-breaking contract with the Dodgers that was worth 700 million dollars over ten years, some of the first questions that the media had for him were specifically about the dog. While speaking at a press conference, Ohtani, who was born in Japan, disclosed the name of his pet, which is Dekopin in Japanese. However, he suggested that Americans could pronounce Decoy more easily.
Furthermore, it is a fitting name for a dog belonging to this particular Dutch duck-hunting breed. There is a theory that the Dutch word “de kooi,” which translates as “the cage,” is where the English word “Decoy Ohtani” may have originated.
The original purpose of the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, pronounced NAY’-dehr-lahn-seh KOY’-kehr-hahnd-jeh, was to draw ducks into net-covered canals for hunters to capture. If you observe a smaller, brown and white, spaniel-like dog with long ears in several Dutch Old Master paintings, you’ve probably spotted an ancestor of the modern Kooikerhondje.
Owners describe the breed as vivacious and intelligent.
Decoy demonstrated his intelligence by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in front of approximately 54,000 spectators during a Dodgers and Orioles game in August.
While a museum does not currently display Decoy Ohtani’s image, Ohtani immortalized him as a bobblehead. In the winter of 2017, the United States Embassy in Tokyo granted the dog a unique, supersized “visa”.
