How Red Sox’s Masataka Yoshida Earned ‘Macho Man’ Nickname

Before Masataka Yoshida steps into the box for his first Red Sox regular-season at-bat, don’t be surprised if you hear Village People’s “Macho Man” pumping through the Fenway Park sound system.

That’s the tune Yoshida chose to be his walk-up song over the course of his tenure with the Orix Buffaloes in Nippon Professional Baseball. As The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier explained in a column published Wednesday, the intro music eventually took on a life of its own. A highlight reel — which included Yoshida curling dumbbells — eventually accompanied the song and fans even brought inflatable weights to the ballpark.

Once Yoshida realized how much fans enjoyed the spectacle, he never looked back.

“I don’t remember why I started using that song, but after I used it, I felt like it made the fans really excited to be all part of one team in the stadium,” Yoshida told Speier through translator Keiichiro Wakabayashi. “That was really good.”

Yoshida didn’t reveal if he was going to stick with the “Macho Man” walk-up music for his first season with the Red Sox. But if he does, Boston fans surely will jump on board and make the 29-year-old outfielder feel right at home.

The Fenway Faithful will see its first glimpse of Yoshida on Thursday when the Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles. NESN’s full coverage of the Opening Day game begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.