LOS ANGELES TIMES: Takashi Murakami’s Dodgers Merchandise Collection Debuts for Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese Heritage Night

A month ago Dodgers gear festooned with colorful flowers in the unmistakable designs of acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami sold out in minutes at a pop-up on Fairfax Avenue. A couple of hundred Angelenos lined up overnight to purchase gear.

The pop-up, called the MLB Tokyo Series collection, preceded the two-game, season-opening series in Japan between the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, and items soon hit the secondary market for four times the purchase price. Players and their families donned the collection, fueling the fervor.

The merchandise was so popular that Murakami and the Dodgers responded by reprising the memorable words of Hall of Fame Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks: “Let’s play two!”