Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played by Jeff Fletcher (review)

Reviewed by: Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played by Jeff Fletcher Jennifer J. Asenas, Kevin A. Johnson, and Mary Hyepock Jeff Fletcher. Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played. New York, NY: Diversion Books, 2022, 232 pp. Hardback, $27.99. Shohei Ohtani may be the best player that we will see in our lifetimes. He is an All-Star pitcher and hitter. In other words, we may think of him as two All-Star players in one body. Who else in our lifetime will throw a 100-mph fastball as a regular starting pitcher and also hit a baseball 513 feet? Jeff Fletcher's book provides a delightful review of Ohtani's greatness from his early playing days in Japan to his tumultuous beginnings in MLB and through his historic 2021 season. Manager Joe Maddon wrote the foreword for the book, describing Ohtani as having a joy for the game and thriving on the competition: "He does not like to lose. At the same time, he is humble, polite, and kind" (xi). Maddon continues, "When it comes down to it, this guy is pretty much out there with a brush in his hand and he's painting all the way. He knows what he wants. He reacts to the situation. You don't have to tell him. He's just better than most everybody out there" (xi). The book begins by noting that the two-way player may never have come to exist without the risk-taking behavior of the Fighters baseball team of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. At the time, the Fighters expressed support for Ohtani being a professional pitcher and hitter. Ohtani had not even considered the notion until the Fighters put it on the table. According to Fletcher, "The Fighters had a reputation for going against conventional wisdom, using advanced metrics for decisions more than other NPB clubs at the time" (6). He continues, "[Ohtani] assumed that any professional team would want him to specialize on the mound. The Fighters, again bucking traditional wisdom, had an idea that Ohtani could pull it off " (7). As baseball scholars, we find this observation intriguing given recent "conventions" of decision making in baseball. Perhaps taking risks in the face of conventions (whether they be "analytics," "sabermetrics," or "load management") allows for the conditions of some of the greatest achievements in the game. Certainly, many of the greatest baseball moments were made possible by risky decisions that challenge much of today's conventional wisdom. The book then takes readers on a journey through Ohtani's arrival in MLB. Several teams went to great lengths in order to recruit and attract Ohtani. For example, on a visit to presumably meet with the Angels, a baseball writer "spotted a limo waiting at the international terminal [of LAX]. The license plate included 'O11.' Ohtani had worn number 11 with the Fighters" (33). We learn from Fletcher's account that Ohtani is seemingly more concerned with [End Page 142] trusting his own feelings about where he should play the game rather than basing his decisions on money. For example, the Mariners were renown for having a large Japanese fanbase after signing superstar Ichiro Suzuki, and they had a significant amount of money for the international pool, "slightly above the Rangers' $3.535 million" (37). The Angels made a deal with the Twins that "jumped the Angels to $2.315 million" in international pool money (37). Thus, Ohtani chose the Angels despite their being able to offer roughly a third less money than the other clubs. The book then tells a compelling story of the ups and downs of his time with the Angels. His first spring training appeared to be mostly a failure. According to Fletcher, "Ohtani's timing seemed to be off as he struggled to handle big league pitching" (75). Fletcher wrote about another thing that makes Ohtani such a special player—not only his willingness to make adjustments but the quickness with which he is able to make them. For example, to cure his problems in spring training, Angels hitting coach Eric Hinske...