NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani hardly ever takes batting practice on the field. He’s usually too busy before games, taking care of his arm and going through various other protocols that are critical to the two-way wonder staying healthy. But on Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, the Japanese icon popped out of the dugout and onto the field. While the swarm of on-field fans and reporters grew around him, Ohtani proceeded to put on a show, including hitting a couple of long homers over the batter’s eye in center field.
Maybe, on the verge of free agency, Ohtani was sending a message. Maybe he was trying to intimidate his opponent. Maybe, as he noted afterward, he was just getting a sense of the ball flight. Whatever the reason, the utter mayhem Ohtani caused just by appearing on the field was indicative of his star power — and that light only shines brighter in a city like New York.
“It’s a beautiful field. Passionate fans,” Ohtani said of Yankee Stadium through an interpreter. “I always look forward to playing here. It’s really fun playing here.”
Ohtani will enter free agency after this season, when he is expected to command a record-shattering contract in the neighborhood of $500 million. It is more important than ever that the Angels ace and slugger stays healthy and repeats his MVP-caliber performance from the past two years. Each and every contending team will throw its hat in the ring for the Japanese phenom. But it would be better for Major League Baseball if Ohtani’s nine-pitch mix, 0.86 ERA and .300/.382/.533 slash line were being showcased by a marquee franchise — specifically, New York’s Yankees or Mets.
“You get that exposure when you’re in New York that you don’t necessarily get anywhere else,” said Angels reliever Aaron Loup, who’s played for six teams, including the Mets. “That’s always a good thing. But being in L.A. and other places is not as hectic at times. Definitely more low-key. But again, I think that goes along with winning. The more you win, the more attention you draw.”
Ohtani’s influence can be understood by watching the deep crowd formed around the Angels’ bus on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park. The number of people standing on Jersey Street went back as far as the eye could see. And all those people were just waiting for a glimpse of baseball’s unicorn. That’s greatness personified. Like it or not, those massive crowds are more likely to form for big-market teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets.
The Ohtani effect extends to the media, too. A large contingent followed Ohtani’s breadcrumbs on Tuesday during the series opener between the Angels and Yankees. More than a dozen reporters waited for him at his locker in the visiting clubhouse, to no avail. When Ohtani finally emerged from the depths of Yankee Stadium to take batting practice with his teammates, at least 50 journalists hovered as close as possible to the superstar, with each hand gripping a phone to take videos of his at-bats and pictures of his 6-foot-4 frame in the flesh. A few hours later, amid 37,883 fans in attendance and countless more tuning in, he sent the third pitch he saw from Clarke Schmidt into the Yankees bullpen for a two-run homer that drew applause from the home crowd
Ohtani is a rockstar. His legend grows by the minute, but his stardom has yet to reach its peak. For that, he will need to play for a contender in a bustling sports-dominated city like the Big Apple.
“It’s really cool to be in a big market because the fans know every single person on this team,” Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “I don’t think it’s like that with other teams. There’s a certain amount of privacy I appreciate, but then I also really appreciate everything that comes with playing in a big market.”
Market size and larger fan bases force teams to spend money under more pressure to satisfy those lofty demands. A team like the Yankees, who have a rich championship history and star power from the likes of Aaron Judge and others, will always attract large crowds obsessed with baseball — and winning. Billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen has shown how far he will go — the Amazins currently flash the highest payroll ($353.5 million) this sport has ever seen — to put his team in a position to win. Boston’s pro teams have rabid fan bases that would only further elevate Ohtani’s stature in baseball.
If Monday afternoon was part of Boston cajoling Ohtani to play for the Red Sox, their pitch didn’t go so well if only because it was another reminder of the East Coast’s rainy April weather. Ohtani pitched just two hitless innings amid bouts of weather-driven interruptions before the afternoon’s second rain delay cut his start short entirely. The rain-soaked right-hander looked uncomfortable and cold on the mound in front of 34,942 fans gathered at Fenway Park.
Yes, the weather on the East Coast can often be a major headache that leads to delays, postponements and miserable atmospheres. However, warm-weather teams are no more likely to perform better and win more games than cold-weather teams. If that were the case, the Angels, a team that plays in a California climate that averages 80.5 degrees from April to September, would be perennial playoff contenders. Playing for a warm-weather team is a matter of preference. And the only two things Ohtani should prefer as he enters free agency are money and winning.
“You always have an imagination of how things will be in New York,” said Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who previously spent 10 years with the Chicago Cubs. “From the outside you always thought, ‘Oh no. The media, the media, the media.’ But once I got here it was very similar to Chicago. It was just the normal media, beat reporters and people funneling out. You don’t take it for granted, but you expect it in a large market.”
Ohtani’s approach to the media is the one aspect of his game that won’t fly in New York. He typically limits interviews, whether it’s with American or Japanese media, to days that he pitches. Between all the work he puts in on a daily basis, it’s challenging for the Angels’ staff to find a time slot to set up an interview with him. He rarely, if ever, is at his locker during clubhouse hours. Really, who can blame him? Having an enormous international following like Ohtani does is overwhelming and, frankly, could get in the way, mentally or otherwise, of what he’s trying to accomplish on the field in a 162-game season.
But the thing is, everyone else does it. Ohtani’s relationship with the media stands out because other stars in the game — including Judge last year after he declined the Yankees’ contract-extension offer — routinely speak to reporters. If Ohtani was to join a big-market team like the Mets or Yankees, he would likely be asked to fall in line and engage with the media more often than not. Perhaps that added attention is a factor for the superstar as he approaches free agency. Maybe New York’s enormous media contingent will ultimately sway him to stay on the West Coast and sign with the Dodgers, Padres or Giants.
“I actually haven’t stepped outside of the hotel in New York,” Ohtani said when asked what he enjoys doing in his spare time in New York City. “So I couldn’t give you an answer.”
That response from Ohtani provides some insight on how much he values his privacy and obscurity. Stepping outside would involve potentially getting recognized by New Yorkers, which could lead to immediate questions about his future, which could lead to a full-on frenzy when all he’s trying to do is perhaps enjoy the nice weather and get a cup of coffee.
“There’s a laissez-faire nature to the California fan, but there’s still a lot of passion there,” said Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo, who was previously the Mets radio announcer for four years. “They want the team to win badly, especially an Angels team that hasn’t won in a long time. The difference is, the New York fan, they want to read the bad headlines, they want to boo players, they have a thirst for being negative. And in California you don’t see that as much. There’s more of an appreciation for positivity there than there is in New York.”
Sure, the pom poms may not always be waving for Ohtani if he played in New York. The Big Apple and all the large-market hoopla that comes with playing here has a long history of adversely impacting some of the best players this sport has ever seen. But that spotlight comes with the territory, and with it, so does the expectation of winning. And winning — something the Angels simply haven’t done during Ohtani’s tenure — is his top priority.
“I really like the team, I love the fans and the atmosphere as a team,” Ohtani said in 2021, regarding the absence of extension talks with the Angels. “But more than that, I want to win. That’s the biggest thing for me. I’ll leave it at that.”
Ohtani is already the highest-paid player in baseball, when including his $35 million in endorsements. He’s already MLB’s most marketable player. He already possesses the talents of a superstar. Playing for a New York team would transform Ohtani into an even more powerful global megastar and would leave no doubt about him being the face of baseball. Such a union would be greatest for the game.
