SEOUL, South Korea — Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani says the upcoming Main League Baseball season opener in opposition to the San Diego Padres in Seoul will present “nice reminiscences” for him and his spouse, however he’ll try to give attention to baseball.
Ohtani spoke to journalists with Dodgers teammates at a packed information convention Saturday, a day after he arrived in Seoul along with his spouse, Mamiko Tanaka.
He stated it was the primary time for his spouse “to return with me to a sport like this.”
“So I feel it will be actually nice reminiscences for each of us. However like I stated earlier, I’ve one job to give attention to. It is baseball,” Ohtani stated by way of an interpreter.
In late February, Ohtani, 29, posted on Instagram that he was married to “a standard Japanese girl” he had identified for 3 to 4 years. He hadn’t stated who she was till one other Instagram publish with a photograph of him and Tanaka on Thursday.
Tanaka, 27, is a former skilled basketball participant who performed for the Fujitsu Crimson Wave within the Ladies’s Japan Basketball League from 2019 to 2023.
The Dodgers-Padres video games on March 20-21 will probably be Ohtani’s debut with the Dodgers they usually would be the first MLB regular-season video games in Seoul.
In December, Ohtani signed a file 10-year, $700 million contract to affix the Dodgers. He underwent surgical procedure on his proper elbow in September and won’t pitch this season. He will probably be used as a delegated hitter and there’s a chance he may play within the discipline.
Ohtani stated he was conscious of the extraordinary worldwide media give attention to the video games in Seoul.
“I admire all the eye. Clearly, consideration is at all times nice, being a baseball participant and with the ability to play with these nice guys subsequent to me. I am actually excited,” Ohtani stated, referring to his two teammates talking on the information convention, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. “I am actually used to the eye, however I simply attempt to give attention to what’s in entrance of me, no matter it’s.”
South Korean media have churned out tales on Ohtani, principally in a optimistic tone, with social media full of messages supporting and praising the Japanese phenomenon. Members of his fan membership in South Korea put up placards welcoming Ohtani’s arrival at Incheon Worldwide Airport on Friday.
That is not an standard South Korean therapy of any movie star from Japan, given the 2 nations’ robust rivalry in sports activities and different areas primarily on account of Japan’s previous colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
“Japan and Korea, they’ve at all times had an amazing rivalry on the subject of sports activities. I’ve at all times watched the video games between Japan and Korea, and I at all times revered, seemed as much as Staff Korea and Korean gamers,” Ohtani stated. “So being accepted like this and welcomed is an excellent feeling. And I need to placed on an excellent present for everyone.”
