Shohei Ohtani has done everything possible in his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers to prove himself worthy of the gargantuan contract he received.
That also extends to contributions off the field, where he has been praised by several players for the impact he makes in the clubhouse.
Kiké Hernández thoroughly enjoyed his first season with Ohtani as a teammate. Hernández said at the time the team was surprised by Ohtani’s personality in the clubhouse, which included a lot of joking around and keeping the mood light.
One thing Freddie Freeman learned about Ohtani in 2024 was his passion for reading Japanese comics. Manga and anime are the Japanese counterparts to comics and cartoons in the United States.
During an appearance on “New Heights” with Jason and Travis Kelce, Freeman described how Ohtani chooses to pass the time while the Dodgers are traveling:
“The only thing I can say is when he gets on the plane, he literally just reads comics the whole flight. … It’s like anime comics. That’s what he reads all flight. I wanted to be a CPA, and he wants to read comics.”
Ohtani has been open about his enjoyment of both manga and anime during his time in the Majors. The popular series “One Piece” is one of his favorites, along with sports-themed series such as Major and Slam Dunk.
Hernández also took notice of Ohtani’s love for reading.
“I think my favorite part about Shohei is that we can be on a bus ride to San Diego, and the bus ride, it looks like a party bus, or we could be on a flight where there’s music blasting throughout the plane, and he’s just sitting in his chair reading comics,” Hernández recently said.
“That’s just Sho. He’s amazing.”
Shohei Ohtani quickly embraced Dodgers’ culture
Part of the reason Ohtani is beloved in the clubhouse, as alluded to earlier, is how quickly he bought into the team culture.
When Ohtani signed with the Dodgers in December 2024, he was already a two-time American League MVP and had firmly established himself as the best player in baseball. But he also brought an aura with him, and as an established star, it could have been difficult for players already on the team to offer advice or call out mistakes.
However, Ohtani was open to feedback from his new team early on and fit into the culture of the clubhouse well.
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