Shohei Ohtani: Japan's baseball phenomenon

For the longest time, even Shohei Ohtani's teammates looked past him in favor of the North American stars of Major League Baseball. They know now that they only need look to the guy in their own dressing room to see the most complete player in all of baseball. 

Still, it may have taken a speech just before the World Baseball Classic final in Miami between Japan and the United States, tweeted by the Japanese team, to help tilt the balance. 

"Let's stop admiring them," Ohtani said referring to his teammate's reverence for the heroes of MLB. "If you admire them, you can't surpass them."

In the nine innings of baseball that followed, Ohtani's teammates surpassed the Americans, winning 3-2 after Ohtani struck out perhaps the second best player, Los Angeles Angels teammate, Mike Trout, to end the game.

A throwback to baseball past

The 28-year old does what modern players in Major League Baseball don't. He pitches the ball when his team is on the defensive side of an inning and he hits when his team is on the offensive side.

In the top tier of baseball, pitching perhaps 100 times in a game if things go well, is left to specialists. They rest their precious arms when their teammates are up to bat. Ohtani isn't alone amongst pitchers that do take to bat, but few in the history of the sport have ever boasted the prowess of the Japanese marksman.

Starting pitchers are usually limited to one appearance every five or so games in a 162-game regular season and take the time to rest their arms and bodies between appearances. There is no rest for Ohtani, who is a star pitcher and hitter for the Los Angeles Angels

Japan is watching

Ohtani worked his way to stardom in Japan's top baseball leagues until December of 2017 when he signed a contract with Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels at the age of 23.

He batted successfully in his debut during the 2018 season and helped pitch his team to a win two days later. At season's end he was named the American League Rookie of the Year. Three years later, in 2021, he was named the American League's Most Valuable Player. He had become better than Americans — Latin Americans too — at what they consider their own game.

Back home, Japanese media follow Ohtani every game in the US, and media consumers back home eat up all things "Showtime."

"I suppose the idolization of Ohtani in Japan reflects its own inferiority complex vis a vis the fatherland of baseball that is the U.S.," said Koichi Nakano, who teaches politics and culture in Tokyo at Sophia University.

"Baseball is so major here, but it has long been said that Japanese baseball, called yakyu, is different from 'real' baseball in America. Books have been written and published on the topic," Nakano said. "So each time where there is a Japanese 'export' that was hugely successful in MLB, the Japanese are enthralled."

Ohtani's 2023 season starts March 31

Seconds after he struck out his Angels' teammate, Mike Trout, in the game that put Japan back on top of the world of baseball, a shouting and smiling Ohtani threw his glove to the ground and tossed his hat to celebrate with his teammates.

"This is the best moment in my life," he said through a translator. Ohtani had helped his Japanese teammates to win seven games and lose none in the tournament, widely considered the World Cup of baseball. His excellent hitting and pitching led him to be named the MVP. 

Ohtani's words to his teammates from before the game still echoed:  "For one day, let's throw away our admiration for them and just think about winning."

In Japan, broadcaster WBC stuck to its live coverage from Miami for almost two hours. It was must-see viewing, especially Ohtani's already iconic final strike out, a moment up there with baseball's best.

km (AP/ Los Angeles Times)

Edited by: James Thorogood