Japan's Shohei Ohtani Making 'ShoTime' in California

 

“An incredible¹ player came from Japan” a fan of the Los Angeles Angels said recently.

The player is Shohei Ohtani. And he has gained a lot of attention since he joined Major League Baseball in America.

Major League Baseball teams usually select a player to be a pitcher² or a batter³. Ohtani is special because he can play both at the highest level.

Ohtani was already famous when he was in high school.

Against the best pitcher in the high school national tournament, he hit a home run. Before turning 18, he recorded the fastest pitch in the history of Japanese high school baseball at 160 kilometers an hour. Very few major league pitchers⁴ in America can throw that fast.

Nippon-Ham Fighters Japanese team

After high school, Ohtani was the first player selected by the Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional team, in 2012.

By 2016, Ohtani excelled⁵ as both a pitcher and a batter for the team in Sapporo.

He hit 22 home runs as a batter and had 10 wins as a pitcher while striking⁶ out 174 opposing batters⁷. As a pitcher, Ohtani also threw the fastest pitch in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball at 165 kilometers an hour.

He then led the Nippon-Ham Fighters to the championship of the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

At the end of every season in Japan, sports reporters choose the Best Nine. The award is given to the best player at each position in the league. Ohtani won the Best Nine award as a designated⁸ hitter and as a pitcher. And he also won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.

The Los Angeles Angels

On December 8, 2017, Shohei Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball in the U.S. He chose the team over the well-known New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

In his first three home games as the Angels’ designated hitter, Ohtani hit three homeruns. He became the first Angels rookie to do so.

As a pitcher, Ohtani won his first game striking out six batters in six innings on April 1. Then, on April 8, he had a perfect game through six and one third innings before permitting a hit.

In baseball, when a pitcher does not permit any runs, hits or errors, he is said to have pitched a perfect game.

Compared to famous players of the past

When he played in Japan, some Japanese fans compared Ohtani to Babe Ruth. Ruth is one of the greatest American professional baseball players. He began his Major League career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox but played in the outfield for the New York Yankees. Now, many people in the United States have started to compare Ohtani to Babe Ruth.

Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. More than 20 million people attend professional baseball games in Japan each year.

Now, Major League Baseball is getting more popular among Japanese baseball fans. One of the reasons is that more star Japanese baseball players, like Ohtani, are playing in the United States.

Japanese fans get up early to watch

Ryohei Takahashi is a Japanese baseball fan. He especially likes Major League Baseball.

These days, he gets up very early in the morning to watch Ohtani’s games. He sometimes needs to wake up at 4:00 in the morning. There is a 16-hour time difference between Japan and the U.S. West Coast.

Ryohei told VOA that he did not expect that Ohtani would be such a good hitter. He thought that the Japanese star might instead mainly pitch. But, “I am glad to watch his two-way success,” he said.

Ryohei added that, “He is already playing an important role for the Angels. Ohtani will be able to continue to have a big impact on the rest of the season. I am hoping that his successful story continues, and he becomes [an] MVP candidate.”

Shunsuke Ijima is a Japanese university student. He watched Ohtani’s near-perfect game in Anaheim, California.

He told VOA, “When I entered the stadium in Anaheim, I saw many people wearing Ohtani T-shirts. During the game, the spectators¹⁰ gave a standing¹¹ ovation¹² for his wonderful pitching. Ohtani is a treasure of Japan. I am proud to be from [the] same country as him.”

Japanese media have closely covered Ohtani and his games.

When the New York Yankees played against the Angels in late April, they were hoping for a dream match-up between Ohtani as a batter against the Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.

In his first time batting against the Yankees, the 23-year-old Ohtani hit a home run against pitcher Luis Severino. But he sprained¹³ his ankle later in the game.

So, the dream match-up will have to wait for another day.

I'm Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

pitcher –n. the player who throws the ball to the batter in baseball

designated hitter –n. a player who bats (usually in place of the pitcher) but does not play on the field

roster¹⁴ –n. a list of players on the team

rookie –n. a first year player in professional sports (and in some other jobs)

role –n. the part someone plays in a group effort

MVP (Most Valuable Player) –n. an award in some professional sports given to the player considered better than all the others

spectator⁹ –n. someone who watches an event, usually a sport with many people in attendance¹⁵

standing ovation –n. when people stand and clap to recognize a good job by a performer

1 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

2 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

3 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

4 pitchers   

大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
• Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。

5 excelled   

优于，擅长( excel的过去式和过去分词 )； 胜过平时

参考例句：

• She has always excelled in foreign languages. 她的外语从来都是出类拔萃。
• Solomon excelled in wisdom. 所罗门智慧过人。

6 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

7 batters   

n.面糊（煎料）( batter的名词复数 )；面糊（用于做糕饼）；（ 棒球） 正在击球的球员；击球员v.连续猛击( batter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句

8 designated   

a.指定的，特指的

参考例句：

• Smoking is allowed in designated areas.允许在指定区域内吸烟。

9 spectator   

n.观众，目击者，旁观者

参考例句：

• A spectator threw the ball back to the players.一个观众把球掷回给球员。
• He was content to stand by as an impassive spectator.他满足于站在旁边做一个冷漠的旁观者。

10 spectators   

n.观众，旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

13 sprained   

v.&n. 扭伤

参考例句：

• I stumbled and sprained my ankle. 我摔了一跤，把脚脖子扭了。
• When Mary sprained her ankles, John carried her piggyback to the doctors. 玛丽扭伤了足踝，约翰驮她去看医生。

14 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。

15 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。