Ohtani and Yamamoto are unbelievable in any language. Japanese has several words for them

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — If you’re a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ billion-dollar duo of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you might want to learn a couple of Japanese adjectives.

Try these as the Dodgers and Padres are in South Korea to open the MLB season.

There’s “shinjirarenai,” which translates as “unbelievable” or “incredible.” Or the milder “subarashi,” which can mean “awesome” or “amazing.”

Of course, the Japanese mega-stars are about unprecedented spending, flair, and commerical appeal. But there’s more to it.

They’ve stirred pride in almost every Japanese, marked 150 years of baseball evolution in the country, and provided an antidote for political ills like the recent announcement that Japan’s economy has slipped to No. 4 behind Germany. It was No. 2 until 2010 when it was overtaken by China.

Baseball in Japan is known as “yakyu,” literaly field ball. But by any name, this is about beating the North Americans — and Latin Americans — at their own game.

THE EVOLUTION — SO FAR

With full respect to Masanori Murakami, who played briefly with the San Fransisco Giants in 1964-65, Japan’s odyssey in the Majors began with pitcher Hideki Nomo, the National League Rookie of the Year after joining the Dodgers in 1995.

As many Japanese recall, Nomo was must-see television whenever he pitched.

Then came Ichiro Suzuki, a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer for the Class of 2025. About a dozen Japanese players will play in MLB this season, adding to a list has reached about 70 since Murakami.

Baseball was introduced into Japan in 1872 by an American professor. It took root so firmly that in a game between Japanese and Americans in 1896, Japan won 29-4 and many of the players were from Samurai families.

The victory was