Shohei Ohtani just joined your team; how do you cover him?
That was the topic on the latest episode of the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast, as Fabian Ardaya, Deitsch’s colleague at The Athletic, joined the show. Ardaya, who serves as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat writer for the New York Times-owned publication, will almost certainly have his hands full covering one of — if not — the greatest player Major League Baseball has ever seen.
While Ohtani, who signed a 10-year, $700 million pact with the Dodgers over the weekend, is an international superstar. But the Japanese two-way player may not be as accessible as you might think, at least to the media. The 29-year-old announced he would join the Los Angeles Dodgers through a grainy picture of the team’s logo on Instagram.
Ohtani has not spoken publicly to either the media or fans for four months. This is consistent with his tendency to coordinate media appearances carefully. During his time with the Angeles, he only spoke to reporters after pitching. As a result, covering him could be more challenging for those tasked with that responsibility.
“You kind of look at it where obviously you have to focus on one guy because he’s being paid more than anyone else in the sport,” Ardaya said. “But also, the thing is, he doesn’t talk that often. He hasn’t spoken publicly outside of Instagram posts and stuff like that — and he spoke briefly after winning the (American League) MVP Award — but didn’t speak with reporters. He hasn’t spoken with reporters since Aug. 9, which was before he injured his elbow again. He is an interesting person to cover because everything you have to do is on the periphery.
“And with the Dodgers, there’s already so much going on…you are also adjusting to this new person on your team, someone who is the highest paid person in the sport, who doesn’t talk. I have to start asking these players about this guy and try to figure out different ways on the periphery that you can figure out more and more about this guy, who is notoriously secretive when it comes to speaking to the media.”
Deitsch asked Ardaya how that functionally worked, assuming that Ohtani was in the clubhouse with his teammates.
Ardaya was on the Angels beat from 2018-21 and explained that it was well-known that you couldn’t grab Ohtani in the clubhouse. There was no one-on-ones. Everything was in a group setting, and he only spoke after he started in the press conference room with his interpreter.
There were also instances when Ohtani wasn’t “available,” the Public Relations staff would briefly ask him a question and relay the answer to reporters.
“A lot of it is working around the guy,” Ardaya said. “It’s a lot of talking to the manager about him, talking to the hitting coach, pitching coaches, teammates, catchers, guys who can sort of describe what he’s doing…He obviously will be in the clubhouse. He’ll see us in there; we can’t necessarily talk to him, especially much less on the record…He obviously doesn’t talk to the media that much, and part of that’s his idea, his plan.”
The reality is that more people will be looking at Ardaya’s work than ever before. And he joked with Deitsch that he wouldn’t be on his podcast if the Dodgers signed Blake Snell. Ohtani is such a global phenomenon — and the Los Angeles Dodgers are a global brand — but this is a bit different. There will be many opportunities for Ardaya and his colleagues despite obstacles.
So, while covering Ohtani will undoubtedly be a unique challenge, it’s also one that could redefine the way we approach sports journalism in the age of carefully curated media appearances.
[Sports Media with Richard Deitsch Podcast]
