Hernández: Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani proves no moment is too big for him
Shohei Ohtani isn’t like any other baseball player. This isn’t about him being a two-way player when healthy or his combination of power and speed that produced the sport’s first 50-homer, 50-steal season. This is about how he deals with career-defining moments. What’s at stake for his team. The implications for his legacy. The tens of thousands of people watching in person, and the millions more watching around the world. The responsibility of projecting the virtues of an entire culture. Other players make an effort to block out such thoughts or use them as fuel to elevate their adrenaline levels. Ohtani called them “ingredients to heighten focus.” Reflecting on his seventh-inning single that drove in the go-ahead run in a 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday that secured the Dodgers their most recent division title, Ohtani described himself as being in a trance-like state. “I was too focused to where I didn’t really think about being nervous,” he said in Japanese. Notice what Ohtani said. He wasn’t just focused. He was too focused. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting an RBI