The biggest name in baseball has a surprising drawback. Or perhaps, as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith admitted, it’s not necessarily a shortcoming. Leaving home at 23 years old to pursue his dreams of baseball, Shohei Ohtani has taken the MLB world by storm. The Japanese phenomenon is largely considered as a ballplayer whose two-way talents have surpassed even those of ‘The Bombino’. It seems as if on the diamond, there is nothing Ohtani can’t do.

However, off the field, a language barrier persists. While English lessons continue for Shohei Ohtani’s MLB career, the Los Angeles Angels player still relies on his translator for communication. But who exactly is the person that has witnessed Ohtani’s rise to glory by his side?

Who is Shohei Ohtani’s translator?

As surprising as it may sometimes seem, not everyone speaks English. For Ohtani, Ippei Mizuhara is the man who has helped him overcome that barrier. Having worked in MLB before taking on Ohtani as a client, Mizuhara is familiar with how the world of professional baseball works. To speakers of multiple languages, or even those who are unilingual, translation may seem like an easy job.

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However, there are hundreds of factors a translator must consider – language structure, environment, target audience, etc. Mizuhara only knows this too well, as he told The Athletic, “Speaking is only about 10 percent of the job.” Before he joined Ohtani, the 38-year-old worked with the Boston Red Sox’s Hideki Okajima.

Born in Hokkaido and raised in Los Angeles, Mizuhara perfectly breaches the gap between the USA and Japan.

The unseen but important face of baseball – Ippei Mizuhara

Given the significant role that the Japanese player now has in Major League Baseball, Shohei Ohtani’s translator is a must presence beside him. Language aids individuals in such easy ways every day, it’s hard to imagine communication without it.

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For Ohtani, Mizuhara is a lifeline – his way of talking to not only the press and the media but his teammates and officials too. Since ballplayers’ personal interviews play a huge role in establishing a reputation with the community, a translator undoubtedly has one of the most important jobs. And Mizuhara takes it seriously, having been on this journey with Shohei Ohtani for five years.

However, not even his significant experience prepared him for the storm that Ohtani wrought in America.

Despite his MLB experience, Ippei Mizuhara was still surprised by Shohei Ohtani’s quick progress

Pursuing one’s dreams takes courage. To leave one’s comfort zone and put oneself out there, vulnerable for all to see, is not an easy task. Yet, Sho-time did it, flying thousands of miles to live out his dreams of playing professional baseball. Ohtani’s MLB debut was in 2018 and since then, there is not a single baseball fan who doesn’t know his name. Even Ippei Mizuhara was surprised.

The World Baseball Classic catapulted Ohtani to global fame and he’s now the most-followed MLB player on social media. Mizuhara expected there to be some trouble in adapting to a new environment, which may or may not affect Ohtani’s performance on the field. He did not expect to see the phenom earning more than $20M in endorsement income soon after his US arrival.

However, the interpreter himself may have played a role in making Ohtani comfortable in new surroundings. The two are fast friends and even eat breakfast together most mornings. However, it seems like Mizuhara’s English may take some time to rub off on Ohtani.

Why doesn’t Shohei Ohtani speak English during interviews?

Despite some rumors of a romantic relationship, Shohei Ohtani’s first love is baseball. Athletes unfortunately only have a limited time frame to play their sport professionally, and Sho-time understands that well. He is here to play baseball and is doing everything he can to fulfill his dreams. Learning a language comes second to that lifelong pursuit.

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The beauty of globalization is that interpreters exist for every language imaginable and Ohtani is prepared to lean on that fact. If he could, he would speak the language, but he doesn’t consider himself fluent enough. “If I could speak English, I would speak English,” he told MARCA. “Of course, I would want to do that. Obviously, there would be no negatives that would come from that.”

“But I came here to play baseball, at the end of the day, and I felt that my game on the field could be my way of communicating with people, with fans. That’s all I really took from it in the end.”

Well said, Ohtani-kun! However, there was someone who took great offense to his non-English-speaking lifestyle once.

Throwback to when Stephen A. Smith made some controversial comments about Shohei Ohtani…

…and Jeff Passan clapped right back at him. While 21st-century America has come miles ahead of its discriminatory past, vestiges of those horrible times still exist. Perhaps the saddest part is that most of the time, individuals don’t realize their seemingly innocent mistakes. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was one of them, who was called out for being close-minded by saying that just because Ohtani couldn’t speak English, he was damaging the reputation of the sport.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan fired back at him that it was not Ohtani who was to blame but rather those who refuse to embrace him publicly just because of a language barrier. After all, fans may not have been witness to Shohei Ohtani’s English skills but he has undoubtedly changed the sport of baseball.

Smith later gave an apology, stating that he had not meant to offend anyone and was ready to say sorry for however long it took.

Ah, who knew language could play such a huge role in a sport? Many are immensely thankful for Mizuhara-kun!

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