MLB player Shohei Ohtani reacted to a chant aimed at him during the All-Star game.
The 29-year-old played in the prestigious game for the third time at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners. As he stepped up to the plate, fans pleaded with him to play for their team as chants of “come to Seattle” echoed around the stadium.
The chant was repeated nearly a dozen times during Ohtani’s at-bat before striking out on six pitches against Zac Gallen during Team AL’s 3-2 defeat to Team NL. After the game, via his interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, the Japanese star responded to the claims and said: "I’ve never experienced anything like that, but I definitely heard it.
“I was just trying to focus on my at-bat and the game. Every time I come here the fans are passionate, they're really into the game. So it's very impressive." The chants come on the back of multiple reports suggesting Ohtani may leave the Los Angeles Angels and sign a new bumper contract that would make him the highest paid baseball player of all time.
After leaving Japan and signing for the Angels in 2018, he has become one of the best two-way players the game has seen. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that fans of the Mariners want to see him play for their team, especially when Ohtani mentioned he has a history with the city of Seattle while speaking to reporters on Monday.
“I’ve actually spent about two offseasons in Seattle, a total of four months maybe,” he said. “And I felt like it’s a very nice city. I really liked it.” Seattle was in the running to sign Ohtani when he first arrived in the league five years ago, with President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto leading the charge.
However, the player was keen to carve out his own legacy elsewhere after the great career his compatriot Ichiro Suzuki had with the Mariners, after spending 12 years of his career there. Ohtani’s new deal could potentially cost more than $500 million and there could be as many as 30 teams who would like to acquire his services.
Some of the teams include the high-spending Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, NY Mets, Chicago Cubs, and the San Francisco Giants.
Commenting on his future via interpreter Mizuhara, Ohtani is not focused on things that are out of his control. “It doesn’t really matter to him if it’s a big or smaller market," he said.
"The Angels fans come to watch the Angels because they love the team and he wants to perform the best for them and like he said, there is stuff that he can control and that he can’t control, and whatever he can control, he wants to do his best at it.”
