Rui Hachimura took the field in front of a throng of over 50,000 to take up the sun.

On the pitching mound of one of baseball’s most famous stadiums, a grandfather’s grandson’s pulse raced as he smiled anxiously.

He told the fans to clap before throwing the opening pitch on Japanese Heritage Day at Dodger Stadium. From first base, he saw Angels star Shohei Ohtani stop stretching to watch.

Hachimura pitched in a windup with “Black Samurai” on the back of his bright white Dodgers jersey.

“I was anxiоus. I didn’t expect it to be crаzy, but it was a lot of people, he told The Times. I forgot Shohei was a significant player in the game. A bit nervous. Shaking, I started.”

Rui Hachimura throws the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium before a Dodgers-Angels game in July. Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

The dream was Hachimura playing professionally on a diamond a lifetime ago. His fastball was so hard that his coaches made him play catcher since no one else could handle it.

Hachimura sensed the pride of a deceased grandfather at Dodger Stadium last summer.

He reached the major leagues by quitting baseball.

Japan’s baseball-crаzy culture and Los Angeles have never been closer.

First, the Dodgers picked up Ohtani for a staggering $700 million. They then signed hоt Japanese player Yoshinobu Yamamoto for $325 million.

The Lakers’ locker room marveled at the grandeur of the Ohtani agreement while they were trying to win the in-season tournament for a $500,000 prize per player. The Lakers noticed when the two-way baseball sensation received the richest contract ever.

After his shоck at the contract’s deferred-payment arrangement evaporated, Hachimura felt something new.

“I’m proud of being Japanese as an athlete, came from there, grew up and came here to the U.S. to be in the NBA, the top league in the world,” he told The Times. It’s different sports, but I’m in a global organization. The Lakers. Also him. Baseball. Premiere league. Dodgers are a huge team. As a Japanese, I’m thrilled for him. He inspired me.”

Not the first baseball player to challenge Hachimura. He and his Japanese pals adored Ichiro Suzuki as children.

“Everyone wаnted to be like him,” Hachimura added.

His grandfather, Hero-o, chose Rui because it meant “base” in Japanese. He purchased his grandson a mitt and ball to play catch before he got sick.

Naturally athletic, Hachimura played soccer. He karated. Basketball was “too much running.” The 100-meter dash national semifinals were his most notable accomplishment as an elementary school track star.

Nothing matched baseball.

He answered, “Yeah, I really liked it,” then corrected himself. I loved it.”

Lakers teammates Rui Hachimura, left, and LeBron James honor each other after a playoff game last season.

Lakers teammates Rui Hachimura, left, and LeBron James honor each other after a playoff game last season. NBAE via Getty Images/Andrew D. Bernstein)

He was so good that he considered joining a baseball academy before staying with his primary school squad.

“I could Һit. A decent hitter. “Home run hitter,” he remarked. “My speed let me steаl every base. I was a youngster like that.”

His body didn’t respond. His ankles, hamstrings, and back hurt.

“I was too fast. My body couldn’t keep up. I was fed up, he said. “… Boringness set in. I’d be good, but it wasn’t the one.”

Okuda Junior High pressured students to choose “the one”.

Hachimura said Japanese junior high students must choose a lane, or “club,” such as a sport, art, or academic specialty.

I said, ‘I don’t know what I want to do.’ I knew I wouldn’t play baseball, he said. Baseball players tried to push me. ‘Rui, play baseball,’ but I can. I considered track and field, but the junior high squad did not perform well.

I grew tired of it.”

It was a lot and nearly broke him in his teens.

Tryout weeks—I didn’t go. Probably won’t do anything. Maybe quit. Be regular and typical citizens. Later, in class, they asked me to play basketball. This dude annoyed me. Play basketball every day, Rui. I went to school every day for those weeks. Sit on my chair. ‘Rui…basketball?’

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, dunks over Hornets forward Miles Bridges last week at Crypto.Com Arena.

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, dunks over Hornets forward Miles Bridges last week at Crypto.Com Arena. Robert Gauthier/LA Times

In the 10-minute break after class, he comes to me. “Rui, come on.” Lunch break, ‘Rui, come on.’ After class, ‘Rui, let’s go.’ I said, “No, no, no,” for two weeks. That annoyed me. ‘Stop. It’s not my thing.”

But Hachimura’s friend Shotaro Okayama persisted. Privately, coach Joji Sakamoto pushed for it.

I was a good athlete, so people wondered why I didn’t do anything. I was tall but not gigantic. But the coach noticed,” Hachimura said. He was Sakamoto. He was an NBA fan. He instructed Okayama, ‘You’ve got to fetch him.’”

After going, he discovered it immediately. He returned home for confirmation that night.

“Mom, what do you think if I play basketball?”

“It seems good, no? She advised him to try.

He thought, “All right.” Let’s go.”

Last July, days after signing a three-year, $51-million deal with the Lakers, Hachimura prepared to pitch.

“I was anxiоus. He laughed honestly. I practiced because of that. Long time since I did it. I had to buy gloves and practice with friends.”

Hachimura and his buddies reached a high school diamond where he grasped a baseball again, the white leather fitting his overgrown palms.

With Ohtani wearing a Dodgers jersey, Hachimura expects to think about baseball more, two of Japan’s brightest stars in the same city. Ohtani attended one of Hachimura’s Washingtоn Wizards games.

He remarked of Ohtani, “He has my mind-set, always trying to be the best. “… A long-term player and member of our organization is my goal. We can inspire each other to excel.”

Hachimura, who turns 26 in February, is learning how to be a big-game player with LeBron James and the Lakers despite some poor luck.

Hachimura still wears a mask as long as he remembers it at the scorer’s table after a concussion and fractured nose that necessitated surgery disrupted his season.

A popular, funny voice has settled into the locker room. After learning that Times columnist Dylan Hernandez speaks Japanese well, Hachimura arched an eyebrow and asked, “How would you know?”

James posted video of Hachimura’s throwing routine at Dodger Stadium, including a shakeoff of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a beautiful leg kιck.