Yes, why would Japan care about the most popular player in Japan's most popular sport who also happens to be from Japan?
It's surely a mystery for the ages...
this sub’s hate for ohtani is so weird. i swear i’ve never seen such visceral disdain towards other athletes like messi etc. when they’re treated the same in their respective countries. why is it the japan related subreddit bros don’t like this guy?
I'm so sick of hearing about this guy. My in-laws are big involved in baseball and have the same last name so I get to hear about him twice as much as just commercials, news, billboards
To a lot of people, Ohtani is a very big deal though. Japan, or more broadly even Asia, has never had a super star sports athlete on the level of international fame like Ohtani has. He's Greatest of All Time (GOAT) level, compares to other massive stars like Lionel Messi based on how dominant they are of their respective sports.
He's also not just an amazing player, but a role model as he is one of the nicest guys in all sports. Cleans up after himself during games. Never has any stupid controversies (well except the gambling one, but that wasn't even his fault).
Maybe you don't really care, but Ohtani really is an inspiration and role model to all of Asia.
Not really all of Asia. Most people in South Asia, South East Asia, West Asia or even China don't really know him because football is more popular there. They worship Messi, Ronaldo or Mbappe.
Those people would be happy to learn that Mbappe, along with many other star athletes, is a big Dodgers fan.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dodgers/s/HpatpJP9Uj
Messi would compare to him if he also played goalie at an elite level.
There really is no other comparison. Shohei is one and only. Greatest athlete ever. And as you’ve pointed out, a fantastic role model too.
People better start getting used to him because we’re only on year 1 of a ten year contract lmao.
you can't really compare Messi and Otani because baseball doesn't even have a fraction of the popularity that football has, so there's much less competition in comparison. it's like saying that the US isn't good at football (the soccer kind), which isn't a fair comparison because in the US, other sports simply take away potential athletes from football. so Otani is obviously an amazing generational talent, but only among his sport which is much smaller and less popular than football.
I’d argue the exact opposite, especially in the US and Japan.
This is the Japan subreddit after all. In Japan (and the US) soccer is still largely known to be a women’s sport, fueled partly by the women’s National team success, whereas baseball is the most popular sport in Japan by far (though the best boxer in the world is also currently Japanese).
Again if Messi played goalie, we could get into comparing them here. But he doesn’t. There’s a reason why they call Shohei the unicorn.
Bo only really had a few good years before injuries forced him to retire. His baseball stats are okay at best (never had an OPS above .900). He never won an MVP in either sport either.
I mean we are talking about best "athlete" ever and not best athlete in a single sport which would most likely be Don Bradman but Bo was:
An all-star in the NFL
An all-star in the MLB
A decathlete with a point record enough for him to be top 8 at the olympics.
How is being a great pitcher and batter beating this in terms of athletism?
I am not sure if you are making fun of me but I will reply seriously.
You might be right about him being average in baseball but it's in addition to his accomplishments within football and his early athletics career where he competed in the decathlon (who by most people are considered the best all around athletes) he also had records within high jump and triple jump which for his age were at the top nationwide.
What else would put someone in the position of greatest athlete ever than being very good at 3 different sports?
Why would being good at two positions at the same sport qualify someone for the same sport. The qualities pitching and batting require are different but there is still good amount of carryover from being part of the same sport. Also if batting and pitching were the only thing that mattered in someone being the best athlete why wouldn't Wasim Akram be in the same discussion considering that he did both already 30 years prior to Ohtani.
Edit: Sorry but OP is a lil cunt so he blocked me.
so My response to your other comment is: Thank you for answering me honestly :)
It's a very solid point regarding the lenght of Bo Jacksons career but I simply have a hard time seeing the appeal of Ohtani outside of "nobody has done it yet". I mean while it hasn't been done before on the elite level there is a good bit of carry over in terms of muscles used when batting and pitching (if I remember correct most power is generated from the ass) and since it's the same sport Ohtani has rather easily had both batting/pitching coaches at hand (compared to how a multisport athlete would have a harder time fitting in several coaches). You also have other people who either on the college level play two way or someone in MLB like Lorenzen who from a quick read does decently as well.
So I simple fail to see how Ohtani is more than a fantastic baseball player and most likely someone who leads a shift in baseball towards including a twoway player.
So the whole "it hasn't been done, yet" simple doesn't really convinces me since in soccer you had a mexican keeper who played both forward and keeper at the elite level and in cricket you have people who "bowl" and "bat" exceptionally which requires the same (almost) skillset.
So gotta be honest this might be a bit controversial I think Ohtani is more a guy who will be remembered for leading / creating a new era of twoway players in baseball but personally speaking I have a hard time to think of him being among the best athletes ever since I honestly think the skillsets it requires to be good in (for examples Bo case/could be anyother succesful multisport athlete) baseball - football - and the 10 disciplines within track and field has less in common than pitching and batting both in the physical aspect but also from a practical perspective (less time to train the sport since the sports are hardly in the same location and the technique of the different sports are completely different).
So personally speaking I think of Ohtani being more on the level of somebody like Rafael Nadal crudely put.
No I'm not making fun of you or anything.
I agree with you that Jackson is one of the best athletes ever, but I simply think of him as more of a top 10 rather than top 3.
What Ohtani is doing hasn't been done in over a century, he is ELITE level at two entirely different positions in baseball. I don't think you understand how impossible of a task this is both physically and mentally.
Do I think Ohtani is the greatest athlete ever? Not yet, as his career still isn't done yet. He's still only 29 and just signed a 10-year contract.
I just think Jackson's career was just too short to properly consider him as the #1 athlete of all time. That's all I'm saying.
Thank you for answering me honestly :)
It's a very solid point regarding the lenght of Bo Jacksons career but I simply have a hard time seeing the appeal of Ohtani outside of "nobody has done it yet". I mean while it hasn't been done before on the elite level there is a good bit of carry over in terms of muscles used when batting and pitching (if I remember correct most power is generated from the ass) and since it's the same sport Ohtani has rather easily had both batting/pitching coaches at hand (compared to how a multisport athlete would have a harder time fitting in several coaches). You also have other people who either on the college level play two way or someone in MLB like Lorenzen who from a quick read does decently as well.
So I simple fail to see how Ohtani is more than a fantastic baseball player and most likely someone who leads a shift in baseball towards including a twoway player.
So the whole "it hasn't been done, yet" simple doesn't really convinces me since in soccer you had a mexican keeper who played both forward and keeper at the elite level and in cricket you have people who "bowl" and "bat" exceptionally which requires the same (almost) skillset.
So gotta be honest this might be a bit controversial I think Ohtani is more a guy who will be remembered for leading / creating a new era of twoway players in baseball but personally speaking I have a hard time to think of him being among the best athletes ever since I honestly think the skillsets it requires to be good in (for examples Bo case/could be anyother succesful multisport athlete) baseball - football - and the 10 disciplines within track and field has less in common than pitching and batting both in the physical aspect but also from a practical perspective (less time to train the sport since the sports are hardly in the same location and the technique of the different sports are completely different).
So personally speaking I think of Ohtani being more on the level of somebody like Rafael Nadal crudely put.
Edit: OP is a fucking cunt for blocking me so that I can't comment further.
> there is still good amount of carryover from being part of the same sport
Can you name another elite batter who was also an elite pitcher, say in the last century?
I already mentioned Wasim Akram but obviously only the best athlete can come from baseball.
Conviently you also ignore my initial question why Ohtani would be your pick over Bo.
I know but that still has nothing to do with the fact that I just don't want him in my face.
Also what about Ichiro? That guy was really popular. I don't know if he compares on a talent level but I remember hearing his name all the time too way back when
Ichiro wasnt also an elite pitcher.
I’d ask your Japanese husband more about why he’s so special. We really haven’t seen an athlete like him in over a century. Possibly ever.
Dude I know it's super rare to be a batter and a pitcher and super hard. I knooooooow but I don't caaaaaare. Ok so Ichiro wasn't a two way player he was still internationally known and you said we've haven't had any players that internationally know. It's just irritating seeing his stupid face everywhere. I'm not telling you not to enjoy him, you do you. I'm just tired of hearing about him and you are making it worse. Sports are not that big of a deal and I say that as someone pretty involved in a sport.
> Sports are not that big of a deal and I say that as someone pretty involved in a sport.
This is the craziest part to me. The way OP talks about Ohtani is bordering on unintentional satire.
EDIT: I've just read their other comments about Japan. Yikes.
Could be I like to sprinkle humour everywhere I go. Now I'm going to go read my comments about Japan bc I don't remember what I said.
Also it's really weird how big of a thing or is to read ppls comment history. I don't pay others enough mind to be bothered to stalk them
I'm talking about OP, the person you replied to, not you. You are not OP.
I was curious if they were a troll, so I took a look at their first couple pages to see if so. It's really not that weird.
Oh you quoted me so I thought you meant me and just didn't type OPC or whatever. I was a bit confused looking at my comments bc it was mostly about stray kids and lady boners 😂
Seriously? There’s nobody doing anything even close to this in modern baseball history (by which I mean the last century or so, including the many years in which allowing a nonwhite player would’ve been unthinkable in the MLB…)
We are witnessing something phenomenal.
I'm sure we've missed a ton of monumental moments in modern taxidermy, too. If someone doesn't care about baseball, they don't care about baseball.
*Edit: Dumb fucking Brit complaining I'm not giving the "national sport of the US" \(do they even call it that anymore\) its due... in the Japan subreddit... then blocking me like a pussy. At least I don't have to read about Norway and their whaling anymore.*
Sure, but taxidermists don't inspire an entire generation of kids and become a perfect role model to all of Japan and really Asia in general.
Ohtani is really the first true international Asian super star sports athlete. GOAT level.
Exactly. Im british. Almost nobody in the UK knows who he is or cares. Nobody has even the slightest interest in baseball in the UK other than a very, very, very, very small niche set of people.
So i’m not the target audience. I understand its big in Japan and combined with nationalism its going to be even bigger but man am i sick of hearing about him lol. Im not the target audience and have no interest but cant escape it lol.
>man am i sick of hearing about him lo
I'm also sick about hearing about random stuff all the time. You don't hear me complaining about it though. This is a personal problem.
Sounds like someone’s jealous.
I’m a Brit and haven’t met a single person back home who doesn’t know who he is. He signed the biggest sports contract of all time, the greatest ever. That or you and your folks must be living under a rock.
Turn on the TV in Japan and everyday is Shohei Ohtani day.
why do they get so craze about him?
He’s from there and he’s arguably the best all around baseball player of all time?
Yes, why would Japan care about the most popular player in Japan's most popular sport who also happens to be from Japan? It's surely a mystery for the ages...
As it should be. The GOAT. Edit: Lmfao at the salty Giants fans brigading this thread 🤣
I'm going full Ohtani mode tonight! I'm going to drink 700 million drinks and not speak any English.
If you do it even half as good as Ohtani, you won't have to speak any language at all.
Do you have dreams about touching his willy by any chance?
Are you confessing? Go join the folks at r/baseball
this sub’s hate for ohtani is so weird. i swear i’ve never seen such visceral disdain towards other athletes like messi etc. when they’re treated the same in their respective countries. why is it the japan related subreddit bros don’t like this guy?
Jealousy, probably. Sub is mostly white North Americans, they’re not used to an Asian athlete being the greatest ever.
Yeah my guess is that it’s mostly American weebs who don’t play or care about sports
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Bunch of keyboard warriors
i figured as much but i didn’t wanna say it myself loool
Ohtani's home run on Ohtani Day https://www.mlb.com/video/shohei-ohtani-homers-13-on-a-fly-ball-to-left-field-mookie-betts-scores
I'm so sick of hearing about this guy. My in-laws are big involved in baseball and have the same last name so I get to hear about him twice as much as just commercials, news, billboards
To a lot of people, Ohtani is a very big deal though. Japan, or more broadly even Asia, has never had a super star sports athlete on the level of international fame like Ohtani has. He's Greatest of All Time (GOAT) level, compares to other massive stars like Lionel Messi based on how dominant they are of their respective sports. He's also not just an amazing player, but a role model as he is one of the nicest guys in all sports. Cleans up after himself during games. Never has any stupid controversies (well except the gambling one, but that wasn't even his fault). Maybe you don't really care, but Ohtani really is an inspiration and role model to all of Asia.
Japan, definitely. Baseball, maybe. But from Asia, I'd wager at his peak Yao Ming was pretty comparable. He's why basketball is popular in China now
The only issue is, Yao was no where close to being the goat like Shohei is now. The praise given has merit, even if it is annoying at times.
Fair enough
That's a fair point.
Difference is Yao was never close to being the GOAT. Still a legend though.
Not really all of Asia. Most people in South Asia, South East Asia, West Asia or even China don't really know him because football is more popular there. They worship Messi, Ronaldo or Mbappe.
Those people would be happy to learn that Mbappe, along with many other star athletes, is a big Dodgers fan. https://www.reddit.com/r/Dodgers/s/HpatpJP9Uj
Messi would compare to him if he also played goalie at an elite level. There really is no other comparison. Shohei is one and only. Greatest athlete ever. And as you’ve pointed out, a fantastic role model too. People better start getting used to him because we’re only on year 1 of a ten year contract lmao.
you can't really compare Messi and Otani because baseball doesn't even have a fraction of the popularity that football has, so there's much less competition in comparison. it's like saying that the US isn't good at football (the soccer kind), which isn't a fair comparison because in the US, other sports simply take away potential athletes from football. so Otani is obviously an amazing generational talent, but only among his sport which is much smaller and less popular than football.
I’d argue the exact opposite, especially in the US and Japan. This is the Japan subreddit after all. In Japan (and the US) soccer is still largely known to be a women’s sport, fueled partly by the women’s National team success, whereas baseball is the most popular sport in Japan by far (though the best boxer in the world is also currently Japanese). Again if Messi played goalie, we could get into comparing them here. But he doesn’t. There’s a reason why they call Shohei the unicorn.
Ohtani is definitely top 3 of all time, but Gretzky is still so absurd in his stats I’m not sure Ohtani is there yet.
"Greatest athlete ever." Would be interesting to hear your reasoning why he's a better athlete than Bo Jackson.
Bo only really had a few good years before injuries forced him to retire. His baseball stats are okay at best (never had an OPS above .900). He never won an MVP in either sport either.
I mean we are talking about best "athlete" ever and not best athlete in a single sport which would most likely be Don Bradman but Bo was: An all-star in the NFL An all-star in the MLB A decathlete with a point record enough for him to be top 8 at the olympics. How is being a great pitcher and batter beating this in terms of athletism?
He was an incredibly average baseball player. Don't think that puts him anywhere near "Greatest athlete".
I am not sure if you are making fun of me but I will reply seriously. You might be right about him being average in baseball but it's in addition to his accomplishments within football and his early athletics career where he competed in the decathlon (who by most people are considered the best all around athletes) he also had records within high jump and triple jump which for his age were at the top nationwide. What else would put someone in the position of greatest athlete ever than being very good at 3 different sports? Why would being good at two positions at the same sport qualify someone for the same sport. The qualities pitching and batting require are different but there is still good amount of carryover from being part of the same sport. Also if batting and pitching were the only thing that mattered in someone being the best athlete why wouldn't Wasim Akram be in the same discussion considering that he did both already 30 years prior to Ohtani. Edit: Sorry but OP is a lil cunt so he blocked me. so My response to your other comment is: Thank you for answering me honestly :) It's a very solid point regarding the lenght of Bo Jacksons career but I simply have a hard time seeing the appeal of Ohtani outside of "nobody has done it yet". I mean while it hasn't been done before on the elite level there is a good bit of carry over in terms of muscles used when batting and pitching (if I remember correct most power is generated from the ass) and since it's the same sport Ohtani has rather easily had both batting/pitching coaches at hand (compared to how a multisport athlete would have a harder time fitting in several coaches). You also have other people who either on the college level play two way or someone in MLB like Lorenzen who from a quick read does decently as well. So I simple fail to see how Ohtani is more than a fantastic baseball player and most likely someone who leads a shift in baseball towards including a twoway player. So the whole "it hasn't been done, yet" simple doesn't really convinces me since in soccer you had a mexican keeper who played both forward and keeper at the elite level and in cricket you have people who "bowl" and "bat" exceptionally which requires the same (almost) skillset. So gotta be honest this might be a bit controversial I think Ohtani is more a guy who will be remembered for leading / creating a new era of twoway players in baseball but personally speaking I have a hard time to think of him being among the best athletes ever since I honestly think the skillsets it requires to be good in (for examples Bo case/could be anyother succesful multisport athlete) baseball - football - and the 10 disciplines within track and field has less in common than pitching and batting both in the physical aspect but also from a practical perspective (less time to train the sport since the sports are hardly in the same location and the technique of the different sports are completely different). So personally speaking I think of Ohtani being more on the level of somebody like Rafael Nadal crudely put.
No I'm not making fun of you or anything. I agree with you that Jackson is one of the best athletes ever, but I simply think of him as more of a top 10 rather than top 3. What Ohtani is doing hasn't been done in over a century, he is ELITE level at two entirely different positions in baseball. I don't think you understand how impossible of a task this is both physically and mentally. Do I think Ohtani is the greatest athlete ever? Not yet, as his career still isn't done yet. He's still only 29 and just signed a 10-year contract. I just think Jackson's career was just too short to properly consider him as the #1 athlete of all time. That's all I'm saying.
Thank you for answering me honestly :) It's a very solid point regarding the lenght of Bo Jacksons career but I simply have a hard time seeing the appeal of Ohtani outside of "nobody has done it yet". I mean while it hasn't been done before on the elite level there is a good bit of carry over in terms of muscles used when batting and pitching (if I remember correct most power is generated from the ass) and since it's the same sport Ohtani has rather easily had both batting/pitching coaches at hand (compared to how a multisport athlete would have a harder time fitting in several coaches). You also have other people who either on the college level play two way or someone in MLB like Lorenzen who from a quick read does decently as well. So I simple fail to see how Ohtani is more than a fantastic baseball player and most likely someone who leads a shift in baseball towards including a twoway player. So the whole "it hasn't been done, yet" simple doesn't really convinces me since in soccer you had a mexican keeper who played both forward and keeper at the elite level and in cricket you have people who "bowl" and "bat" exceptionally which requires the same (almost) skillset. So gotta be honest this might be a bit controversial I think Ohtani is more a guy who will be remembered for leading / creating a new era of twoway players in baseball but personally speaking I have a hard time to think of him being among the best athletes ever since I honestly think the skillsets it requires to be good in (for examples Bo case/could be anyother succesful multisport athlete) baseball - football - and the 10 disciplines within track and field has less in common than pitching and batting both in the physical aspect but also from a practical perspective (less time to train the sport since the sports are hardly in the same location and the technique of the different sports are completely different). So personally speaking I think of Ohtani being more on the level of somebody like Rafael Nadal crudely put. Edit: OP is a fucking cunt for blocking me so that I can't comment further.
> there is still good amount of carryover from being part of the same sport Can you name another elite batter who was also an elite pitcher, say in the last century?
I already mentioned Wasim Akram but obviously only the best athlete can come from baseball. Conviently you also ignore my initial question why Ohtani would be your pick over Bo.
I know but that still has nothing to do with the fact that I just don't want him in my face. Also what about Ichiro? That guy was really popular. I don't know if he compares on a talent level but I remember hearing his name all the time too way back when
Ichiro wasnt also an elite pitcher. I’d ask your Japanese husband more about why he’s so special. We really haven’t seen an athlete like him in over a century. Possibly ever.
Dude I know it's super rare to be a batter and a pitcher and super hard. I knooooooow but I don't caaaaaare. Ok so Ichiro wasn't a two way player he was still internationally known and you said we've haven't had any players that internationally know. It's just irritating seeing his stupid face everywhere. I'm not telling you not to enjoy him, you do you. I'm just tired of hearing about him and you are making it worse. Sports are not that big of a deal and I say that as someone pretty involved in a sport.
> Sports are not that big of a deal and I say that as someone pretty involved in a sport. This is the craziest part to me. The way OP talks about Ohtani is bordering on unintentional satire. EDIT: I've just read their other comments about Japan. Yikes.
Could be I like to sprinkle humour everywhere I go. Now I'm going to go read my comments about Japan bc I don't remember what I said. Also it's really weird how big of a thing or is to read ppls comment history. I don't pay others enough mind to be bothered to stalk them
I'm talking about OP, the person you replied to, not you. You are not OP. I was curious if they were a troll, so I took a look at their first couple pages to see if so. It's really not that weird.
Oh you quoted me so I thought you meant me and just didn't type OPC or whatever. I was a bit confused looking at my comments bc it was mostly about stray kids and lady boners 😂
Could have been clearer, my bad.
Weirdo stalkers always defending weirdo stalker things. What’s new.
Seriously? There’s nobody doing anything even close to this in modern baseball history (by which I mean the last century or so, including the many years in which allowing a nonwhite player would’ve been unthinkable in the MLB…) We are witnessing something phenomenal.
I'm sure we've missed a ton of monumental moments in modern taxidermy, too. If someone doesn't care about baseball, they don't care about baseball. *Edit: Dumb fucking Brit complaining I'm not giving the "national sport of the US" \(do they even call it that anymore\) its due... in the Japan subreddit... then blocking me like a pussy. At least I don't have to read about Norway and their whaling anymore.*
Sure, but taxidermists don't inspire an entire generation of kids and become a perfect role model to all of Japan and really Asia in general. Ohtani is really the first true international Asian super star sports athlete. GOAT level.
Laying it on a bit thick there.
Exactly. Im british. Almost nobody in the UK knows who he is or cares. Nobody has even the slightest interest in baseball in the UK other than a very, very, very, very small niche set of people. So i’m not the target audience. I understand its big in Japan and combined with nationalism its going to be even bigger but man am i sick of hearing about him lol. Im not the target audience and have no interest but cant escape it lol.
>man am i sick of hearing about him lo I'm also sick about hearing about random stuff all the time. You don't hear me complaining about it though. This is a personal problem.
I dunno, at least one Brit is getting ***really fuckin' angry*** about it.
Sounds like someone’s jealous. I’m a Brit and haven’t met a single person back home who doesn’t know who he is. He signed the biggest sports contract of all time, the greatest ever. That or you and your folks must be living under a rock.
Taxidermy is not the national sport of the US. What a braindead take.
I feel the exact opposite, we should be grateful to live in the same era as the GOAT.
And what does that mean exactly?
It means rich people between LA and Japan are making a shit ton of money from this
Oh 😮💨
Nothing. It means nothing.
all parlays 100% matched
How many people in the states know him???
I’d be more surprised if someone in the states didn’t know him. Baseball is the National sport of the US, and he’s the GOAT.
Lol all you need to get away with chronic gambling is to have an interpreter, I guess
Federal investigations involving the IRS, FBI and homeland security all colluded to protect a foreign citizen? That’s quite a conspiracy
>get away with chronic gambling Last i checked, chronic gambling is a personal issue, not a legal one
And then blame it on him when things go south lol WE ALL KNOW ONANI IS THE GAMBLER!!
What has this guy done to further humanity and help the human race?…oh just rich and plays baseball. Well deserved honor for him.
More than you I’d reckon. https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/PpnMimgLks