A tremendous first half has transformed Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels into a superstar. Between leading the majors in home runs (33) and posting a 3.49 ERA on the mound, Ohtani is baseball's most successful two-way player in decades, perhaps a century. And he will be a heavy presence in Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Game after being voted the American League's starting designated hitter and, on Monday, announced as the AL's starting pitcher. But he can't be the face of baseball, says ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. Not because of any shortcomings on the field but because he prefers to normally speak to the media through an interpreter, translating his native Japanese to English. While not fluent, Ohtani can speak English, and he also knows Spanish. "The fact that you got a foreign player that doesn't speak English, believe it or not, I think contributes to harming the game to some degree, when that's your box office appeal," Smith said during Monday's "First Take." "It needs to be somebody like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, those guys. And unfortunately at this point in time, that's not the case."
Smith reiterated the point about Ohtani, who is 27 and moved to the United States after signing with the Angels in December 2017, a few minutes later. "When you talk about an audience gravitating to the tube, or to the ballpark, to actually watch you, I don't think it helps that the No. 1 face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he's saying, in this country," he said. "And that's what I'm trying to say." After mentioning former NBA stars Manu Ginobili and Dirk Nowitzki, Smith said: "For some reason, in Major League Baseball, you got these guys who need those interpreters, and I think that compromises the ability for them to ingratiate themselves with the American public, which is what we're really talking about."
I get where he is coming from but he is wrong on this. This matters so little in the grand scheme of things that I'm surprised he has this opinion. He needs to move on with the times. Everything has become more international and people are far more accepting of that. Esports does this all the time where they have interpreters. Plus, professional sports is about the best of the best competing against each other. That is what we want. People don't have a problem listening to a translator. In fact, that could inspire people to learn another language which is only good. I can't think of a single negative for this outside of being a closed minded person who hates foreigners.
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Reminder: On March 2nd, 2021, Texas removed mask mandates and allowed 100% capacity for businesses.