THE STORY OF SHOHEI OHTANI

I wrote about Shohei Ohtani five years ago.

Shohei came to America from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (also produced Yu Darvish, 6'5", to the left, and both wore #11), and recorded the fastest pitch in Japan:  102.5 MPH.  He reached 99 MPH in high school.  He began his professional career in 2013 as both a left-handed hitter and right-handed pitcher.  He signed a contract with the Angels last year for only $545,000/year, plus a one time bonus of $2.3 million.  If he had waited until the age of 25, he would have gotten more than $200 million in a 6-8 year contract.    However, he will get his share of endorsements.  The Ham Fighters will receive $20 million for allowing him play in the USA.   Oh, he is single, humble, and with movie-star good looks. 

There are many Ohtani books.  If you are into cards, here is a source of five of them with a wristband gift bundle.

There is thus nothing much I can add to what is in print.  So here are some tidbits of interest:

• In high school Ohtani threw at 99 MPH, and was mostly a pitcher.
• He was so outstanding that he announced that he would sign with a major league baseball team without bothering to play in Japan.

• 

  However, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters convinced him to stay home.
• Note that they are the Nippon-Ham Fighters, not Ham Fighters.
• For decades they played in the Tokyo Dome and did not fare well against the Yomiuri Giants.
• In 2004 they relocated to remote Sapporo, Hokkaido, where a fabulous new dome was built.  I toured the site a long time ago.  They had an American manager, Trey Hillman.
• In 2005, 18-year old Yu Darvish joined the team, leading them to pennants in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012, the year he left to join the Texas Ranger.  Read my posting of 19January2012 of his signing.

Yesterday, the Texas Rangers signed Yu Darvish, a part Iranian baseball pitcher from Japan, to a $60 million, 6 year contract.  He is 6 ft 5 in and 216 pounds.  Actually, there is zero connection among these three Texas-Iran stories.  

I only want to report on Darvishsefad Yu (in Japan, the family name, Yu, is placed at the front).  He is the top baseball pitcher in Japan.  Darvish's mother (Japanese) and father (Iranian) met in Florida and settled in Japan, where he was born.

I also added:

He is not perfect, as while a high schooler he was caught smoking and gambling (not legally of age for both).  He was reported to to have had a shotgun wedding to a Japanese actress Saeko(right).  She won the past vote for Japan Baseball's Hottest Wives.

Alas, they divorced in 2012.

But back to the Ham-Fighters:

• 

  In 2012 Hillman used the latest American methods and abandoned the too-much-practice Japan method, and hired Hideki Kuriyama to run the team.  He was a former marginal outfielder who had no managing experience, and was known as a quirky guy.
• Kuriyama was innovative, using the Tampa Bay Rays short-opening pitcher system and employing extreme defensive shifts (which was later banned in the Japan and U.S.).
• Kuriyama was a pioneer.
• He drafted Ohtani even though he was planning to leave for the U.S.  Plus, he was skinny for being 6'4".  Ohtani has gained 35 pounds since then.

• 
  What changed everything was that Kuriyama  promised Ohtani a unique plan: he would become Japan's only nito-ryu...or TWO-WAY PLAYER!!!  In those days scouts did not see much promise of him being a hitter.
• However, at the age of 18, he was observed hitting a ball with a sound that no one heard before.  He was fast, but home runs?
• 
  This unique proposal prepared the way for Ohtani to become the BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL HISTORY!!!
• Nippon also gave him Darvish's #, 11, which was about to be retired, and protected Ohtani from the media.  He was made a baseball monk, and seemed to like this role.  Maybe important in his stay with the Ham-Fighters, they gave him a lot of time off.  One thing Major League Baseball has not seen yet:  he is an excellent defensive player with an unbelievable arm, which would be expected.
• 
  But Japanese experts and commentators thought they would be ruining Ohtani by both batting and pitching, although the name Babe Ruth kept coming up in discussions.
• What Ohtani had, though, was a precocious maturity and preternatural equanimity, which has carried through to today.  Plus he always practiced, for he had to both hit and pitch.  And he was a nice guy.

So by now you know that Ohtani signed a $700 million deal with the Las Angeles Dodgers.  And he won't even be pitching next year.  Sure, the Dodgers are now World Series favorites.  Mind you, he'll only get $2 million/year for the next ten years, with most of this money deferred. but this will allow the team to add players.  They even just signed Tyler Glasnow from Tampa Bay, a 6'8" pitcher who will make a difference if he stays healthy.  This Los Angeles team has not won the national championship since 1988.  There is one of those ultimate Dodger fans living at 15 Craigside who will become insufferable. 

Does he have a girlfriend or wife or....?   He dated Kuji Akiko, and actress and personality, in 2014.  She is 5'4.5" and almost 30.

Actually, they are from the same hometown and school, but never dated.  Then rumor connected him to Maiko Kano, volleyball player, 34 years old.  But she is currently seriously dating singer Terushi Kiriyama of Johnny's WEST, a singing group in Japan. 

In 2021 it might have been Kamalani Dung of Hawaii.  I said two years ago:

For the record, in case there is something brewing, Kamalani is 5'7" tall and 24 years old.  She is currently a professional softball player on the Puerto Rican national softball team.

If you're angling to meet him, this is what he would want in you.

• Someone with a nice smile
• Bright and eloquent
• Honest and modest
• Smart
• Tall
• Gentle
• Sporty

Shohei Ohtani was featured on ESPN this weekend.  Beyond the Dream is streaming on Hulu.  This is a documentary sharing his childhood dream.  Sort of like all the above.  ESPN produced the film, which premiered November 17 on ESPN+.

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