Here's a little primer for you from mlb.com...
By all accounts, Ohtani is the total package -- a true sports rarity. He's 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and as fast as they come while running from home plate to first, but there's so much more.
"He looks like a movie star," Whiting said. "And he's the modern-day version of Frank Merriwell, a fictional character from comics of the 1920s and '30s -- the guy who's the All-Star athlete, he's really clean-cut, helping neighbors, helping the old lady with her groceries, just being an all-around great guy to everybody."
And it's not an act. By all accounts, Ohtani has long been respectful with media, even though he's been swamped by coverage for the last five years, and his No. 11 jerseys and billboards featuring his face are seen all over Japan.
Ohtani lives in the Nippon-Ham dormitories so he can be closer to the training facilities -- he is diligent about exercise and a student of nutrition -- and more immersed in being all about baseball all the time. He doesn't go out on the town with teammates, hasn't shown a desire to put the dating scene above his athletic preparation, studies English and smiles a lot.
"He knows how it all works," Lefton said. "When you're trying to do something, but you haven't done it yet, instead of talking yourself up, you let the success come first."
He throws the ball 100 miles an hour as a pitcher, and he's a slugger/outfielder too. Where do we sign?
