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MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers
MLB to Celebrate Shohei Ohtani, Other Japanese Players with Custom Manhole Covers originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and Chicago Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki are among 12 active Japanese MLB players that will be celebrated with custom manhole covers in Japan beginning June 16.
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Per an article, the 12 custom manhole covers featuring one player in each design, will be installed at locations in Japan associated with that's player's roots in baseball.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who represented the Japan National team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, will also be one of the 12 players celebrated. Nootbaar, whose mother is of Japanese descent, will have his cover installed on Monday, June 23 in Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture.
In seven games for Team Japan during their 2023 WBC title run, Nootbaar slashed .269/.424/.269 with four RBIs, six walks and two stolen bases.
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This season with the Cardinals, Nootbaar got off to a hot start but has cooled off this month. He's hitting just .128 in June with 15 strikeouts, and is marred in a 1-for-27 slump in his last seven games.
Japan center fielder Lars Nootbaar (23) and team Japan celebrate after defeating the USA in the World Baseball ClassicRhona Wise-Imagn Images
Each of the manhole covers were designed by different artists and a video depicting how they were made can be seen here.
The full installation schedule and locations for the custom manhole covers are as follows:
June 16 – Shohei Ohtani: Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture
June 16 – Yusei Kikuchi: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
June 16 – Roki Sasaki: Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture
June 17 – Yu Darvish: Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture
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June 18 – Yuki Matsui: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
June 19 – Shota Imanaga: Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture
June 23 – Lars Nootbaar: Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture
June 24 – Seiya Suzuki: Arakawa Ward, Tokyo
June 25 – Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Bizen City, Okayama Prefecture
June 26 – Masataka Yoshida: Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture
June 27 – Kodai Senga: Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture
June 29 – Tomoyuki Sugano: Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
