TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki was having his typical day on a baseball field in 2000, putting on a power display during batting practice before ripping line drives all over the field for the Orix BlueWave during a preseason doubleheader.

American infielder Torey Lovullo — who was in the other dugout playing the final year of his career in Japan with the Yakult Swallows — couldn’t believe his eyes.

The 26-year-old’s combination of speed, power and skill was off the charts. How did he not know about this guy?

“I told my translator, get me three baseballs,” the current Diamondbacks manager said. “He needs to sign them. That’s the best hitter I’ve ever seen.”

Lovullo was ahead of the curve in identifying a future Major League Baseball legend. Suzuki came to the United States the following year, signing with the Mariners, and embarked on a Hall of Fame career that included 3,089 MLB hits and a lasting legacy.

Nearly 25 years after Suzuki’s MLB debut, the defending World Series champion Dodgers will face the Cubs in two regular-season games in Tokyo, and Japanese players will be the centerpiece of the experience. Two-way Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is widely considered the best player in the world while teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are important parts of the pitching staff.

Over on the Cubs, Seiya Suzuki is one of the best hitters in the lineup, while Shota Imanaga is the ace pitcher. He’ll face Yamamoto on Tuesday in the first all-Japanese starting pitcher duel in MLB history.

It’s quite a moment for Japan, Japanese baseball and the dozens of players who slowly paved the road for today’s generation to be such a big part of the American baseball scene.

“Very excited — my family’s very excited,” Seiya Suzuki said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to make memories over there.”

Japan’s rise

The first Japanese-born player in the big leagues was Masanori Murakami, who pitched for the Giants during the 1964 and 1965 seasons.

But it was thirty years later when pitcher Hideo Nomo came to the Dodgers in 1995 that Japan’s presence in the big leagues really started to be felt. His unorthodox delivery — turning his back toward home plate during his windup — helped make him an immediate sensation and he won National League Rookie of the Year and made the All-Star team after finishing with a 13-6 record and 2.54 ERA.

“It was on TV, so as a kid growing up, you’d see him pitch in the major leagues and that became a thing in Japan,” said Atsuya Furuta, who was a star catcher in Japan from 1990-2007. “Baseball kids wanted to play in the major leagues.”

At first, it was mostly pitchers who came from Japan to play in the U.S. Shigetoshi Hasegawa was a quality reliever for the Angels and Mariners starting in the late 1990s, and Kazuhiro Sasaki was an All-Star closer for the Mariners in the early 2000s.

But Suzuki was the one who opened the door for Japanese hitters, signing with the Mariners in 2001.

“When Ichiro finally came over and began his rise in this game, it showed the way for other young Japanese players to see it was possible to come here,” Lovullo said. “There was always an insecurity that they weren’t big enough or strong enough and couldn’t compete at this level.

“But that’s certainly never been the case in my opinion.”

After Suzuki’s arrival, several Japanese hitters found success in the big leagues. Outfielder Hideki Matsui was an integral part of the Yankees from 2003-12, making two All-Star teams, hitting 175 homers and helping the franchise win the 2009 World Series.

Outfielder So Taguchi helped the Cardinals win the World Series in 2006 and the Phillies earn the title in 2008. Kosuke Fukudome was an All-Star for the Cubs in 2008.

That paved the way for the current generation that includes Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki and the Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida. Once a curiosity, players who come over from Japan are no longer a curiosity for American fans, instead becoming part of the game’s landscape.

Dodgers lead the way

It’s no accident that the Dodgers are at the forefront of showcasing Japanese baseball excellence.

The franchise has a long history of seeking out diverse talent. Jackie Robinson — baseball’s first Black player — debuted with the franchise in 1947 when they were located in Brooklyn. In 1981, Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela turned into a sensation and ended up having a stellar 17-year career. Then in 1994, pitcher Chan Ho Park was the first Korean in the big leagues.

Nomo’s arrival in 1995 was an extension of the franchise’s ethos. Grace McNamee — who worked for the Dodgers in the mid-1990s — was one of Nomo’s translators during his first few seasons and said former owner Peter O’Malley was always a champion for the sport’s worldwide growth.

“With the O’Malley family, they were all about globalizing the game,” McNamee said. “It was really important for Peter to make sure that everyone — including the Japanese media — was able to be accommodated.”

Current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been a good caretaker of that legacy. His father was Black, his mother Japanese and the former MLB outfielder was born in Okinawa, Japan, on a U.S. military base. That background didn’t hurt when recruiting the likes of Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki.

The Dodgers manager visited Japan over the winter, dining with legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh, and takes pride in knowing the club is a destination for Japanese players.

“Their experiences playing in the states with the Dodgers has been truly a good one,” Roberts said. “And I think it’s a responsibility for the Dodgers because I do think we’re the epicenter globally for baseball.”

AP writer Stephen Wade contributed.