“He knelt down, buried his face in his glove, and didn’t say a word. The team stopped practice. The coach ran over. And then everyone understood… Something had broken inside him.” — Dodgers Insider reporter.
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On Tuesday morning at Camelback Ranch, Yoshinobu Yamamoto – the Dodgers’ million-dollar rookie – walked onto the field with a slight smile and his usual professional demeanor. But just 15 minutes later, no one expected… he would collapse in the middle of the grass, shaking his hand as he held the phone that had just received a text message from home.
“Your mother… doesn’t have much time left…”
A sharp pain shot through Yamamoto’s chest. He knew his mother had been battling cancer in secret for years, always hiding it from him because she didn’t want to stop his MLB dreams. But this time, it was his final message.
“She once said: as long as I can pitch in the big leagues, I can rest in peace… But I haven’t had time to come to America yet…” — Yamamoto choked up in the press conference room after practice, where no one could hold back their tears.
A son left his homeland to pursue his dream. A mother stayed behind, quietly loving her son from afar. And now, amidst the Hollywood lights, the only thing Yamamoto wishes for is a plane ticket home… to keep her final promise.