Fresh off an astonishing $700 million dollar contract that ended in a World Series championship, Shohei Ohtani has picked up where he left off in October, as he continues to star for the league-best Los Angeles Dodgers.
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan—you turn and you see him: A building-sized Shohei Ohtani plastered on a gigantic electric billboard, confidently styling the German fashion company Boss. You walk across the street, and he appears to you again, only now, he’s holding a product from the Japanese green tea brand Oi Ocha in his hand. Round the corner and there he is again, sliding onto base, flashing his pearly white New Balances. The global superstar and talented athlete is everywhere.
Since his arrival to Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2018, Shohei Ohtani has taken over the baseball world. His skill in both batting and pitching makes him a unicorn, separating himself from even the biggest stars in the league. Yet, even as baseball starts back up again, it is evident his cultural impact and versatility extend beyond the game.
Even before joining the MLB, Ohtani was breaking records in Japan. In 2012, he was drafted first overall by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan’s professional baseball league, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). During his five-year period as a Ham Fighter, he began to dominate both pitching and batting. In 2016, he posted the best Earned Run Average (ERA) in the Pacific league of the NPB while leading his team to a Japan Series championship.
Joining the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, Ohtani became the first full-time two-way MLB athlete—a player who specializes in both batting and pitching—since Brooks Kieschnick in 2003. In only eight seasons in the MLB, Ohtani has racked up three MVPs, a 0.951 On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS), over 580s run batted in (RBIs), over 920 hits, a career 3.01 ERA, and a combined 45.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as both a pitcher and batter. For comparison, Juan Soto, a player ranked 8th on ESPN’s annual ranking of baseball’s top 100 players, has a career OPS of 0.949 and over 900 hits. What separates Ohtani from the rest is his elite-level pitching. Scott Garlow, the head coach of Lick-Wilmerding’s baseball team, understands Ohtani’s uniqueness. “The simple fact is he can be so good at being a two-way player. We haven’t seen anyone like that since Babe Ruth. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime player who can do both,” he said.
photo courtesy of @shoheiohtani on Instagram
Benjy Cho ’26, a pitcher for LWHS’s varsity baseball team, spoke to why Ohtani is so special. “I mean when you watch him, you want to replicate his swing, his pitching. Every kid dreams about being the pitcher in the World Series trying to get the last out. Or being the batter, bases loaded with two outs, Game 7 of the World Series. Ohtani can do both,” Cho said.
Further illustrating his outstanding career, on December 9, 2023, Ohtani signed an unprecedented $700 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers—a contract that was, at the time, the largest contract in North American sports history. Avid Dodgers fans Kian Perrone ’27 and Marissa Cornelius spoke about their excitement about the Ohtani news.
“I was ecstatic. That was one of the best moments of my life,” Perrone said.
“He’s a generational player and I think he is going to define this era of the Dodgers,” Cornelius added.
However, the reason behind this massive contract extends beyond his superb hitting and ace-like pitching. “He’s bringing people into the game. People always talk about how baseball is dying. Ohtani is getting people excited about baseball again,” Cornelius said. It was rumored that the Dodgers made an additional $120 million dollars through increased sponsorships and merchandise sales off of his likeness.
His impact transcends the game of baseball, and this cultural influence is what differentiates him from other superstars in the league. His charisma and on-field success, as well as his Japanese heritage, make him a global icon. Kai Liu ‘25, a Japanese student, expressed his thoughts on the role model figure Ohtani provides.
“I think it’s so special to see an Asian player and a Japanese player, someone so close to my own culture, be the best player in the league,” Liu said.
In his first season with the Dodgers, he continued to prove his greatness. He became the player to record 400 total bases since 2001 and the first player to ever slash 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, eventually ending the season with 59 stolen bases and 54 homers. He rode these achievements to his third MVP and a World Series Championship, beating the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic in six games. Marley Hammons ’26, a member of LWHS’s varsity baseball team, spoke on Ohtani’s dominance. “He’s a phenom and I’m excited to see the rest of his career,” he said.
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