As baseball fans debate not only where two-time American League MVP Shohei Ohtani is headed but also the merits of his gag order on prospective teams, cultural norms are at the fore.
Reaching back to his old MLB reporting days on Friday’s edition of Pablo Torre Finds Out, longtime sports media personality Dan Le Batard argued Americans are not respectful enough of those cultural differences when covering Ohtani. Therefore, Le Batard explained, taking issue with Ohtani’s efforts to cut down on leaks is just silly.
“This one was interesting to me because … it’s not merely that culturally there are some privacy differences in how we cover media stuff in both countries,” Le Batard said. “More interesting to me is whatever level of privacy he wants for his personal life, in matters of business and how public business deals in America and Japan, the sacred contract of business where Ohtani is from, we have no respect for it here.”
Le Batard remarked that Hideki Matsui stepped in it when he bragged about his pornography collection, while Ichiro Suzuki took the opposite tack and closed himself off completely. The history of Japanese players assimilated to Major League Baseball is touchy enough that Ohtani is understandably reticent to embrace the flash of American sports fully.
“[Suzuki] would not say anything publicly about anything because he was afraid of offending a sponsor, because business matters are to be respected,” Le Batard said.
Le Batard also questioned whether Ohtani himself was choosing secrecy, or if his representatives were protecting him. And he lamented that it lessens the connection baseball fans can feel to Ohtani.
“Ichiro kept his business, his business,” Le Batard added. “He controlled the narrative. He did tighten the grip such that we never got to know Ichiro.”
After cohosts Mina Kimes and Pablo Torre brought up the carefulness of other Asian sports superstars in the United States including Jeremy Lin and the concern over being misunderstood through language and culture, Le Batard agreed.
“It’s a barrier, but it’s not limited to language,” Le Batard agreed.
Baseball may be hoping Ohtani heads to a huge market to capitalize on his popularity, but it’s no sure thing Ohtani plays ball.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.