
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:
- Fans mobbed the Dodgers (and especially Shohei Ohtani) in Tokyo.
- Some student loan repayment plans have been suspended.
- Call for volunteers to clean park in fire zone faces pushback in Altadena.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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Dodgers commence 2025 season with Tokyo visit
For the second time in as many years, the Los Angeles Dodgers begin their season with an international trip.
Instead of South Korea, as was the case in 2024, the defending World Series champions will commence their title defense with a Tokyo two-step.
The Boys in Blue will face the Chicago Cubs in a pair of games Tuesday and Wednesday — with first pitch for both at 3:10 a.m. L.A. time.
The Dodgers arrived Thursday to a Beatles-like welcome, documented by my colleague and team beat writer Jack Harris, in their bid to secure their place as Japan’s favorite team in the States.
Building their Japanese brand
Harris wrote that the Dodgers in some ways feel like Major League Baseball’s Team of Japan.
They inked Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in free agency over the last two seasons.
They’ve also struck advertising deals with some of the country’s biggest companies. All of their games are now shown on Japanese television.
Team officials have stated their mission to “paint Japan blue” and become the nation’s most popular baseball team.
But this week, over their first 24 hours in Tokyo, they got to bask in that international spotlight.
Welcome back, welcome home
Hundreds of fans decked out in Dodger blue crammed into Tokyo Haneda Airport’s arrival hall dreaming of pointing at and snapping a photo of the team or their favorite player.
To their chagrin, the airport constructed partitions that blocked any view of the squad.
That setback didn’t diminish enthusiasm as thousands of fans roamed the streets around the Tokyo Dome on Friday ahead of the team’s first official workout. Again, they were clad in Dodgers hats, jerseys and T-shirts.
Inside the dome, 10,507 fans packed into the lower bowl of the historic ballpark — transforming it into a nearly universal sea of white and blue.
They came to witness a workout.
“This is crazy, amazing,” manager Dave Roberts told The Times, his eyes wide as he walked out of the dugout and surveyed the sprawling scene.
“It’s been overwhelming, to say the least,” added shortstop Miguel Rojas, who was loudly applauded after a rudimentary round of batting of practice.
Ohtani didn’t spend much time on the field Friday, appearing for a little more than 10 minutes and doing no more than stretches and base running drills.
But his mere appearance triggered a roar. And when he exited the field, photographers scrambled to capture his every step.
Later that evening, while out in the Tokyo neighborhood of Shibuya, Roberts said he was struck by the sight of the team’s brand on city streets.
“I saw a lot of Dodger hats,” he said.
A different view heading into the season
The Dodgers’ trip overseas has offered perspective — on their popularity in Japan, ascendant place on the world stage and ever-growing prevalence even 5,000 miles from home.
“It’s all over the world,” Rojas said. “I think the Dodgers are trying to get right there with the biggest organizations in the world. I’m talking about Real Madrid, Barcelona, all the teams that are worldwide. And I think the Dodgers are really close to that.”
For more on the visit, check out the full article.
The week’s biggest stories
Trump administration policies and reactions
- Some student loan repayment plans have been suspended. Here’s what borrowers should know.
- California businesses are reeling from Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs.
- Appeals court lifts blocks on Trump’s orders restricting diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI — programs.
- Trump opens investigations at three California colleges alleging DEI-based discrimination.
- Tesla raises concerns over retaliatory tariffs in unsigned letter.
Crime, courts and policing
- The Orange County judge who fatally shot his wife is speaking out as a potential retrial looms.
- A man who helped smuggle “status symbol” turtles to China has been sentenced to prison.
- A threatening call from a patient prompted a temporary lockdown at Huntington Hospital.
- CarMax vehicle rampage left one paralyzed, records say. Company outlines chilling event.
- Surgery at a UC hospital went shockingly wrong, leading to leg amputation, lawsuit says.
Sports and entertainment
- Fabrizio Guido’s subtle comedy is a slam dunk in Netflix’s “Running Point.”
- He remembers a different kind of baseball, relaxed and chatty. “Eephus” gets it on film.
- Angel City FC believes it finally has the right chemistry to be competitive amid rebuild.
- Ohtani’s home run at the Tokyo Dome delivered yet another moment seemingly on command.
More big stories
- Bird flu mutation associated with increased disease severity found in two cats.
- K.W. Lee, known as the “godfather of Asian American journalism,” dies.
- SpaceX launched a crew to space station to replace NASA’s stuck astronauts.
- Federal authorities filed an immigration case against the suspect in a deadly catalytic converter theft.
- Rapper Jay Rock was arrested in L.A. on suspicion of illegal firearm possession.
- Blackface “hate incident” suspension removed from student’s record after lawsuit.
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Column One
Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and long-form journalism. Here’s a great piece from this past week:
On a cool March morning near the Huntington Beach Pier, dozens of surfers sat bobbing on their boards — legs dangling in the water, toes wiggling for warmth — and gazed with questioning eyes at the fishing boat going back and forth a few yards away, just outside the break. From the bow of the boat, reporter Jack Dolan made eye contact with several of the surfers and waved, but it was a little too far for them to hear when he shouted, “We’re tagging the great white sharks swimming around you!”
More great reads
- California, Arizona and Nevada all agree: The Trump administration needs to fix a key Colorado River dam.
- After the L.A. fires, residents in their 70s, 80s and 90s ponder starting from scratch.
- How the storied Vienna Philharmonic returned to SoCal for the first time in a decade.
- Fire, lack of students, teacher layoffs: Inside Pasadena Unified’s struggle to stay solvent.
- Insider Steve Oney writes: NPR faces a real threat in defunding fight that’s coming.
- Columnist LZ Granderson writes: Trimming the fat from the federal budget shouldn’t hurt the most vulnerable this much.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your weekend
Going out
- 🥨 Actor Leslie David Baker, a.k.a. the grumpy, pretzel-loving sales rep Stanley Hudson on “The Office,” offers up his L.A. Sunday Funday.
- 🎥 Here’s our review of the action-comedy film “Novocaine,” in which an accidental hero feels no pain.
- 🖊️ Joan Didion made her mark on L.A. Here are 10 places she knew and loved.
- 🥯 Here’s our list of 25 of the best bagel shops in Los Angeles.
- 🐭 It’s the corporate home of Disney, but so much more. This must be Burbank.
Staying in
- 👟 KTLA-TV is airing the 40th edition of the Los Angeles Marathon from 6 to 11 a.m. Sunday.
- 📖 Gifted guitarist Mike Campbell details what it was like touring with legendary rocker Tom Petty in his memoir “Heartbreaker.”
- 🧑🍳 It’s hot and savory and always tasty. Here’s our recipe for broccoli-fennel soup with garlic croutons.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.
L.A. Affairs
Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.
He lost his husband of only two years in 2021. At 76, he resigned himself to being alone for the rest of his life. Then he struck up a conversation with a woman at an art gallery opening. They spoke about art and life and promised to keep in touch. He, a gay man; and she, a divorced mother of two, struck up a friendship that transformed into a relationship. Would their mutual respect and love continue to grow?
Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team
Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Luke Money, news editor
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