SHO-TIME

He’s an ace pitcher. He’s a power-hitting designated hitter. And he’s still something of a mystery.

In a sport that has struggled mightily to groom household names in recent years, Shohei Ohtani (b. 1994) is a legitimate celebrity. A once-in-a-generation talent both on the mound and at the plate, the Japanese player became the subject of a bidding frenzy in 2017 when he decided to leave his homeland's major leagues to play in Major League Baseball. Ohtani opted to play for the Los Angeles Angels and struggled to find his footing thanks to injuries, Tommy John surgery, and a pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But he was still the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, and 2021 was a breakout year: He pitched 157 strikeouts, posted an excellent 3.18 ERA, hit 46 home runs and 10 triples, and was named AL MVP. Who is this guy? Fletcher, a beat reporter for the Angels, scored excellent access to the front-office maneuverings behind Ohtani’s signing and to coaches and teammates amazed at his talents. (Angels manager Joe Maddon wrote the book’s foreword.) But Ohtani himself, who generally avoids one-on-one interviews, offers little beyond game-specific comments, and the book sometimes drowns in stats, details about finger blisters, and innocuous quotes. In fact, the narrative is often livelier when the focus isn’t directly on Ohtani, as when Fletcher catches up with a husband-and-wife pair who obsessively attend Ohtani’s games, details forgotten two-way players in the Negro Leagues, and explores just why two-way players are so rare (partly talent, partly the business of baseball). If Ohtani has interests beyond the game, Fletcher hasn’t uncovered them, but Ohtani’s laser focus plainly pays dividends. He belongs to “a super small class,” one rival GM says. “There’s one in the world.”

A glimpse into the life of a sports legend whose story is still being written.