It won’t be wrong to say that if there is a face of the baseball world now, it’s Shohei Ohtani’s. Sure, it might have been Mike Trout some years back, but that’s another story. For now, Shohei Ohtani gets all the hype, and if you ever wonder why, then Friday night was your answer.
The New York Dodgers were down, then up, and then down again, until Ohtani said, “Enough!” and flipped the script. He hit a three-run homer in the ninth to seal a 14-11 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He essentially saved the day!
He went 3-for-6 in the game, racked up two doubles, and that go-ahead blast was great. It pushed his average to .304 with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases this season. But here is one stat that shows what level of popularity Ohtani really has. MLB had posted a YouTube highlight video of the game, and it hit 1.1 million views in nine hours!
1.1 million views in nine hours for May regular season heroics. If you’re wondering why Shohei gets all the social media posts, that’s why. It’s not for you. It’s for a Japanese audience that is, on average, far more engaged with the sport. pic.twitter.com/h6NMxadCVl
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) May 10, 2025
This is huge for a regular-season game in May. But the Foolish Baseball page really elevated the appreciation for the player. They credited Ohtani’s ability to pull such a crowd to Japan. “1.1 million views in nine hours for May regular season heroics. If you’re wondering why Shohei gets all the social media posts, that’s why. It’s not for you. It’s for a Japanese audience that is, on average, far more engaged with the sport.” And honestly, there is no denying that Ohtani has a global presence and is popular.
When the Dodgers opened the 2025 series opener in Japan, the reality of how popular the Sho is dawned upon all. From their billboards to the streets, the star’s face was pasted everywhere. Then the sold-out tickets are not just for the main game but even for practice. Plus resale of tickets for $100000 was crazy! However, what is alarming in this post is that while it highlights the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar’s ability, it also picks on his fans in America.
They are saying that the views he gets are not because of fans here, but back in Japan. According to the post, his Japanese audience is more engaged. Well, fans are not happy with this and are making their feelings known. And of course, they are hurt—these are the same fans who stood for hours waiting to get even that Shohei Ohtani bobblehead last year, remember?
Shohei Ohtani is not just a Japanese star
The internet mostly stood divided on a global scale of Ohtani’s popularity. One user in X mentioned it’s not the Japanese audience who are simply more engaged, but worldwide fans. And he isn’t wrong. Ohtani sure has Japanese fans; he is the son of their soil. But he is also an Asian, and in the broader spectrum, has fans all over Taiwan and Korea, too. In Taiwan, they had the historic 50-50 ball of Ohtani’s displayed at Taipei 101. And Koreans? They took it a step further with a fan actually making a shrine for Ohtani!
I assure you it’s not just for Japanese audience he has a lot of fans world wide
— shobae 大谷翔平 ¹⁷ Ohtani Shohei ¹⁷ (@shoheisaveus) May 10, 2025
One user tried to put logic first, saying it is not Shohei Ohtani as a player but the Dodgers as a team that people support. And, well, he isn’t completely off the plot, either. Ohtani is not a new debutant to MLB, or it hasn’t been just a year or so for him, like maybe Yamamoto. He has been here quite a while with the Los Angeles Angels. Yet his popularity never soared there. It is in Dodgers that he has started to shine, and hence, the user comments do make sense.
It has more to do with the team he plays for. They weren’t doing this when he was an Angel.
— Jon Michael (@jon_michael_w) May 10, 2025
Another user echoing the same sentiment mentioned that it’s actually the Dodger fan base that’s huge. And how it’s easy to be an LA fan now. And the question is, is there a lie in this? People want to support a winning team, and so far, LA is killing it. They didn’t wait around in the off-season to take just the winning team and maybe win again this time. They added key selections and tried to make the team better. They are also known as baseball’s evil empire, and that simply tells everything about how much pull the Dodgers have.
Dodgers also have the biggest fan base, it’s very easy to be a dodgers fan right now
— Basileios (@twinhypeback) May 10, 2025
One fan simply doesn’t like the fact that only one player in MLB is getting the attention. But here is the deal: Ohtani is somehow really important for the team and the league. He has brought in key sponsorships and viewership and has basically added new life to the sport. And as far as the spotlight goes, even other players like Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and more get as much attention. In fact, Pete Alonso of all people was the spotlight just this last month!
Doesn’t mean it isn’t still annoying. If they were truly fans of the sport they would want to see other players grow and get the spot light too
— Cinder (@CinderCat729) May 10, 2025
Taking a sarcastic jibe, a user talked about how dare MLB market its most profitable star? And it is kind of spot-on. Even though the New York Yankees still are MLB’s most valuable franchise, the Dodgers might catch up. Ohtani helped increase the Dodgers’ value by 25%. Plus, did you know that Dodgers already earned back that $700 million – his salary in one year? That number is no joke. At the end of the day, numbers are what keep the balls rolling in the right direction.
Also, how dare Major League Baseball market its most profitable star!
— CJ Baumgartner (@Baumcj30) May 10, 2025
Do you think the hype for Ohtani is too much? Or does he deserve it? Let us know.
The post Glaring Stat Justifying MLB’s Shohei Ohtani & Dodgers Hype Divides Baseball World appeared first on EssentiallySports.
