The Major League Baseball season officially starts with a two-game series between the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, opening Tuesday in Tokyo. Among many other things, this series brings the biggest baseball star in the world, Shohei Ohtani, to his home country to start the season following his third MVP award.
The two-way super-duper star did an exclusive, sit-down interview with CBS Evening News in anticipation of the series.
“I’m not perfect, but I’m grateful for being here right now, including all the imperfections,” Ohtani told CBS News correspondent Adam Yamaguchi. “I’m also really thankful to the people in America who helped develop and bring baseball to Japan.”
While Ohtani continues to break records never imagined before, including becoming the first player to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season, the comparisons never stop. One of the easiest? Babe Ruth, one of the few players to both pitch and hit, as Ohtani does.
“Babe Ruth is definitely one of the players I respect, so being compared to or uses as an example alongside such a player is something I always feel is very special for me,” Ohtani said.
But for today’s baseball-playing youth, Ohtani is their hero, the man who can do what almost no one else can and do it better than almost everyone else. That spotlight comes with pressure, both on and off the field.
“It really means a lot to me when kids who play baseball say they want to be like Shohei Ohtani,” he said. “I feel a strong responsibility to make sure I don’t let those kids down.”
Thus far, he sure hasn’t let anyone down on the field.
Ohtani, 30, hit .310/.390/.646 (190 OPS+) with 38 doubles, seven triples, 54 home runs, 130 RBI, 134 runs, 59 steals and 9.2 WAR last season, winning his first NL MVP after taking AL MVP in two of the previous three seasons. When he didn’t win, in 2022, he was the runner-up. He was relegated to DH duty last season, staying off the mound as he rehabbed from major elbow surgery. He’ll return to pitching later this season but will open the year as the Dodgers’ DH as they chase down a repeat World Series trophy.
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