It was all business for Shohei Ohtani during his six-year run with the Los Angeles Angels.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Monday detailed how the Los Angeles Dodgers star had an almost singular focus on baseball while playing for the Angels and tuned out the wider sports world. One way to demonstrate that was Rosenthal citing a source who said he “could not even identify Patrick Mahomes, the NFL’s biggest star.”
The piece provided some context and perspective for how Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s former interpreter, could funnel almost $17 million from Ohtani’s accounts to pay off gambling debts. Mizuhara pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud and falsifying a tax return in June.
Rosenthal wrote Ohtani built an “insular” dynamic with Mizuhara and agent Nez Balelo, which created a bit of a vacuum.
“As one Angels employee put it, Ohtani’s whole world was baseball, and Balelo’s whole world was Ohtani,” per Rosenthal. “Mizuhara, the only one of the three fluent in both English and Japanese, filled the communication gap and assumed greater responsibility than a typical interpreter. Mizuhara, according to those interviewed, fit a variety of descriptions: Buffer. Blocker. Human wall. The U.S. government, in its 37-page complaint against Mizuhara, referred to him as a de facto manager and assistant, employed by Ohtani.”
On top of that, former Angels manager Joe Maddon told Rosenthal he thought Ohtani lacked “any kind of social life” and would travel from the ballpark to his living accommodations with little happening in between that.
The Japanese star’s on-field talents have made him almost singularly unique, and his ability to stay out of the limelight is just as impressive. For example, nobody had known he was married, let alone engaged, until he publicly announced as much in the offseason. And even then, it took multiple weeks for fans to learn his wife’s identity.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Rosenthal Ohtani “has blossomed” in his first year with the team and “become way more independent, way more open.”
Still unclear is whether the two-time American League MVP knows of Mahomes.
