When Shohei Ohtani embraced the plaudits of being the "Face of baseball" in US

Last year, Shohei Ohtani opened up about how being called the 'face of baseball' didn't exactly put pressure on him. He added that it rather made him more competitive to be at the top of his game and keep creating the jaw-dropping results that he has been delivering.

Shohei Ohtani is a rare talent, the likes of which haven't been visible in the MLB since the time of legendary Yankees player Babe Ruth. He is not only one of the starting pitchers for the Los Angeles Angels but also one of their best hitters.

The Japanese, having moved over from the Nippon Professional Baseball league, stormed his way to a unanimous American League MVP award in 2021 and finished second behind Aaron Judge in 2022.

After a prolific 2021 season, many pundits applauded Shohei Ohtani for bringing back the much-needed entertainment value that was needed in baseball. In an exclusive interview with GQ, Ohtani was asked whether he felt the pressure of having to represent not just his team but the entire sport as a whole. He said:

“More than pressure I'm actually happy to hear that. It's what I came here for, to be the best player I can. And hearing ‘the face of baseball,’ that's very welcoming to me, and it gives me more motivation to—because I've only had, this was my first really good year. And it's only one year. So it gives me more motivation to keep it up, and have more great years.”

Ohtani's 2021 for the Angels included .257/.372/.592, with 46 home runs, 100 RBIs, 103 runs, and 26 steals in 155 games and 639 plate appearances. He completed the year with 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts.

He became the first player to be included in both All-MLB teams, one for his role as Designated Hitter and one for his role as Starting Pitcher. He followed it up with a solid 2022 too, completing .273 with a 35.6% on-base rate, 34 home runs, and 95 RBIs and earning a 10.8% walk rate and a 24.2% strikeout rate.

Shohei Ohtani: "I want baseball to be the most popular sport in the United States"

Baseball's decline in popularity is a known fact for everyone. A sport that dominated the minds of common American households in the early 1990s has been rocked by various incidents that have reduced the fan following that the sport garnered. When asked about this very issue, Shohei Ohtani responded:

“Baseball was born here, and I personally want baseball to be the most popular sport in the United States. So if I can contribute in any way to help that, I'm more than open to it. But if you look at the whole baseball population in the world, it's a lot less than, like, soccer and basketball, because only select countries are really big on baseball. But in those countries where it's huge, it's unbelievably huge.”

Ohtani had a better understanding that the concept of baseball's decline is a very American-centric idea because in other countries, such as his home in Japan, the sport is still gaining ground.