Coverage of the Shohei Ohtani free agency saga drew opinion from two schools of thought.
Some didn’t care that Ohtani veiled himself and the pursuit with so much secrecy. Some pundits were flabbergasted by it, while others thought it wasn’t good for the game of baseball. Then, there was the other prominent school of thought: That badgering Ohtani – or any player, for that matter – for how he chose to carry himself during free agency was ridiculous. He has the right to his free agency and has a right to his own process.
If you felt a sense of entitlement from the reporters’ side, you might not necessarily be wrong. But there also is another side to the story worth considering.
ESPN’s Clinton Yates, quite outspoken this week, joined The Barber’s Chair Network’s I’m Not Gon’ Hold You show, hosted by Barber’s Chair Network co-founder Scott Lewis. Lewis was joined by co-hosts J.R. Bang, Mariano, and Dante Miles.
On this week’s episode, the discussion about the new Los Angeles Dodgers star’s free agency and the way the media handled themselves came up. It encouraged a lengthy discussion by the hosts and Yates, who said he was in Nashville while the initial hecticness emerged.
Yates then reflected on the situation at hand and tried to offer perspective on each end and whether or not there was a societal difference at play.
“I do think there’s a part of this whole thing that is… it’s really tough because, yeah, you can say that because he’s Japanese, because he’s private that there are certain societal things that are just not gonna fly the same way. But I don’t think that makes all criticism of Shohei Ohtani being quite high-maintenance as racist. I really don’t.
“I mean like, let’s think about what happened when he was with the Angels. They let him do whatever he want – Pitch whenever he want, talked whenever he want, hit whenever he want, worked out wherever he wanted and recovered from injuries however he wanted. They enabled a certain level of secrecy beyond privacy that I think, by default, when you go from a team like the Halos to the Dodgers changes. And, I think that’s part of the reason why, hello, you’re making so much money.
“And so, again, there’s two sides of every discussion. And it’s always odd with me, odd to me when people are sort of act as if, ‘Well, they can do whatever they want!’ Well, yeah, but at the same time nobody has to like that and that doesn’t necessarily mean that having a problem with it means you have a problem with who they are. It just means you don’t like it.
“And I do think that there is some… maybe not among Dodger fans, because Dodger fans are really more in the business of celebrating themselves. A lot of L.A. sports fans are like that. Like, regardless of what’s actually happening with the team they don’t necessarily know or care a ton about sports. They just kinda like being in the place to root for a team that’s expected to do well as much as one that actually does. And so, amongst Dodger fans, you might not see a ton of that. But I do think that there is a bit of a feeling around baseball that’s kind of like, ‘Alright already, you’re gonna be 30 by the time this season ends. We’d like to know a little more about you.’ And there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Because by the same token with which we say that baseball doesn’t market its stars well enough. Nobody thinks that baseball players are cool. The popularity level, blah blah blah. Well, when the most popular player on Earth refuses to talk to people, it kind of creates a Catch-22. So, I think there is some level of not responsibility, but it would just be cool to know more about this guy. I think for everybody’s sake, because ultimately, you’re playing a game. It’s not really that serious. Open up and maybe more people will like you, maybe it won’t matter. But I do think there’s something to be said for his personality’s gonna make a lot of differences to his popularity over the next ten years. Maybe not worldwide, but maybe stateside.”
Yates made sure, though, to address the bad-faith arguments that host Scott Lewis brought up to ignite the discussion.
“Don’t get me wrong, Scott. Hold quickly, don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of people who came incorrect on that. You know what I’m saying? I’m not trying to imply everyone operates in the best faith. Whether they even know that or not. I just personally think there is something beyond just the cultural… I don’t wanna say hurdle but the cultural difference that is kind of about like, ‘This could just be more fun.’ You know what I mean? It doesn’t necessarily need to be about obligation. You seem to be a pretty fun guy. Why don’t we engage in some more things that people like instead of acting like everything is so dead serious all the time?”
Yates’ perspective is a significantly more levelheaded and nuanced take than some of his peers have brought to the table. Los Angeles does beget a certain personality type that takes you from superstar to icon. The biggest stars in the city’s sports history have not only leaned into it, some downright embraced it.
So, would this create a conflict? The early returns on Shohei’s free agency suggest it might be national. Things will prove interesting in L.A., but probably only if the Dodgers lose. If the Dodgers win, Ohtani can likely have all the secrecy he wants in the world. Dodger fans want to win, and it sounds like, based on how the free agency visit went, that the team is fed up and wants to, too.
But it is fair to suggest that clashes in the overall dichotomy of L.A. and Shohei Ohtani’s personality could rise.
