Major League Baseball and Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has co-authored a children’s book about his dog Decoy – “Decoy Saves Opening Day”. The book is set for a February 2026 release.
Taken from an actual event – Decoy “threw” out the ceremonial first pitch before a game last year – the book tells the story of Decoy who forgot his lucky ball at home. Can he make it to the stadium in time???
Ohtani San intends to use the proceeds from the book sales to support animal rescue efforts.
Since being introduced to American fans, Decoy has found himself in the spotlight a number of times. He poses alongside the book of which he is the star, he helps his “dad” and “mom” Mamiko Tanaka announce the birth of their new baby girl, he appeared alongside “dad’s” Dodger teammates during the World Series championship parade and on the field to celebrate winning the National League championship, and he appears on a pair of Shoehei Ohtani’s cleats – the very cleats he was wearing the game he hit the 50-50 mark. Literally everything Ohtani was wearing that day went straight to Cooperstown and the MLB Hall of Fame…including Decoy on the shoes.
Dodger fans were first introduced to Decoy when Ohtani earned the MVP in 2023. Sitting alongside the star player was a small furry fur baby. When Ohtani signed his unprecedented 10 year $700 million contract, the biggest question of the day had nothing to do with baseball; everybody wanted to know what was the name of the dog??? His Japanese name is Dekopin – flicking someone’s forehead in Japanese -, but he is known as Decoy!