When these days they ask the legendary David Ortiz explain what you think Sohei Ohtanitwice in a row MVP of the league and already for many the greatest baseball player of all time, Big Papi’s eyes light up. He says he has never seen anything like it, that it is “a unicorn, a beast”, an “alien”, something unprecedented. A “tremendous great guy, humble, the best hitter on the planet and among the 10 most dominant pitchers.” Martínez knows what he’s talking about. He has played against the best in history and has earned a place not only among them, but among television commentators.
Big Papi, like Pedro Martinez o Vladimir Guerrero (father and son) represent better than anyone all those generations of Dominican, Cuban and Venezuelan players who have transformed the major leagues. Now in sports like basketball it is normal for foreigners, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic o Victor Wembanyama compete face to face with the local stars and surpass them. In baseball the revolution came much earlier. But Ohtani’s thing is something exceptional, unique.
He hits like no one else, throws like the chosen ones, runs like the fastest, steals bases like the most scoundrels. All in one. «Ohtani has the ability to control both positions. For 700 million, the Dodgers signed two players in one. But what he does, only an Asian can do, because of their discipline. They can’t be as good without that discipline,” says Big Papi. «This man’s discipline is everything. The players’ routines are long and complicated, I didn’t have time and I was only a position player. What he does… where he comes from, he arrives programmed,” he insists.
Yamamoto’s talent
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series last Saturday for the second consecutive time, something no one had accomplished since the Yankee era at the turn of the last century. Ohtani broke records, he did things that no one had done before, but the MVP of the finals was not him, but his compatriot Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who stood on the pitcher’s mound in the ninth inning of the last game, the loneliest place on the planet. And he did it after having pitched no less than 96 times the night before. His arm had to be destroyed, the ligaments at their limit, but Yamamotoeven far from his best moment, managed to close the game.
Together with them, the very young man celebrated the trophy Roki Sasakithe next generation. First time three Japanese have won an MLB title, but probably not the last. A sport always associated with the US, with the Caribbean, now contemplates the emergence of Asians. When asked, experts say that the progressive Japaneseization of the game is logical. That the passion in Japan is extraordinary. That there is a very competitive league, there is passion, tens of millions of fans and children with gloves at home, but that they have, above all, “a culture of discipline and dedication.”
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There are studies that have analyzed how there can be so many good Japanese pitchers. Exploring their biomechanical differences, how their legs and hips exploit more than their elbows, which allows them to recover faster between games. Or how his physical work, more focused on elasticity, mobility and control of the entire body (the videos of Yamamoto doing a handstand are spectacular) than on weights. Nothing matters more for pitchers than longevity and recovery, given the exposure that often comes with going through the operating room.
Up to 2 billion dollars
The players, from the field, actually say that everything is a matter of the head. Of discipline. Of being able to master the impossible routines of a chaotic game. They focus, stick to the plan and don’t let distractions, nerves, get in the way. Ohtani has his entire country behind him, added to the pressure of professional sports, or personal scandals, after his friend and performer was convicted of stealing millions of dollars from him by taking advantage of his good faith. And none of that, not even the injuries, have fazed him.
It’s been 30 years since Hideo Nomo He arrived for the first time in the United States, precisely with the Dodgers. And 24 have passed since the emergence of Ichiro Suzukiwho was rookie of the year and will be the first Japanese in the Hall of Fame.
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There are currently 12 players born in Japan in the American professional league. Not even counting Yamamoto and Ohtani, stars like Seiya Suzuki, Kodai Senga, Tomoyuki Sugano, Yusei Kikuchi y Kenta Maeda They have contracts that combined are close to 2,000 million dollars. And the quarry seems inexhaustible. Even the manager of the Dodgers, Dave Robertswas born in Okinawa, since his father was a soldier there.
The virtues of the Japanese school
Scholars of the game say that one of the big differences between Americans in general, from the North or the Caribbean, and Asians is patience. And this is the result of that aforementioned discipline. American baseball is much more physical, with many more games, and more aggressive. Batters try to get all the balls out of the park, while the Japanese school of thought advocates tiring and making the pitcher desperate. Wait as long as necessary.
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Japan has been waiting for this moment for years. They are the great dominators of international baseball in recent decades, including the Olympic Games. It is the national sport and no one has invested more than them, outside of the US. Japanese clubs have the same devices as North American clubs, and can attract and train talent in a more systematic way. Baseball is a sport of stellar moments and a foreign country is monopolizing them.