Current Events > Stephen A Smith: Shohei Ohtani harming baseball because he doesn't speak English

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https://www.yahoo.com/now/stephen-smith-shohei-ohtani-dont-183706596.html

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."



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I just can't connect with this guy if he's unable to sell me a can of soup or car insurance.

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Racist fuck

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this dudes whole job is to say dumb shit. he's killing it.

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BuckVanHammer posted...

this dudes whole job is to say dumb shit. he's killing it.

Making $12 million/year IIRC

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Shablagoo posted...

Making $12 million/year IIRC

ya I think he's espns highest paid personality

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Lebronwon posted...

"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."

At-right Screaming A Smiff

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Wtf Stephen Smith..

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Looks like Stephen A finally graduated from reaction-seeking troll to actual piece of shit human being
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Just know English, it's that easy.

We're lucky Ohtani came over and we get to experience him.

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Now I want to watch a game with closed captioning and when Ohtani pitches it just says [pitches in Japanese]

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Yokozuna was able to become WWF Champion without speaking English. If he can do it then so can anyone else.

On a serious note; fuck Stephen A Smith.

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What language does the bat and ball speak

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Lebronwon posted...

https://www.yahoo.com/now/stephen-smith-shohei-ohtani-dont-183706596.html

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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wtf

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Honestly thats a load of shit and it sounds like he was just searching for something to write about because he ran out of ideas.

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Guys like Pacquiao and tons of other people in UFC could barely speak English. Didn't hurt the business at all.

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This is just straight up racist.
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This turd just wants to see his name in the news, doesn't matter for what reason.

Fuck him and his racist take.

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Shablagoo posted...

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Damn. I used to have a lot of respect for Stephen A. Smith. But not anymore. #StopAsianHate

Trump started this sort of rhetoric now it's perpetuating every where

Remember he is a Jeremy Lin hater too and on the same agency that Carmella Anthony was on

Outer_space posted...

Asians doing well in sports seems to upset people.

Definitely one person named Stephen A Smith
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The worst person ESPN has ever hired

Alt-right Screamin A

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Ohtani does speak English. He interviews in Japanese because he knows he has a lot of Japanese fans and wants to reach out to them.
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Remember when ESPN used to just play clips, show highlights, and talk about the games?

Good times.

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nothing will happen, either. racism against asians is just socially acceptable for some reason

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SAS be like



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God forbid anyone say anything like this about an African star using a translator though.

Shit like this is and the Maria Taylor/Rachel Nichols incident just show that ESPN is beyond saving without major changes. SAS and his goons couldnt wait to drag Rachel through the coals about being racist because of her comments against ESPN and then he goes on and does this bullshit.

Fuck SAS.

Hey Molly have you ever gone to an Angels game?
Yeah, my best friends husband was literally an ex player for them.
Yeah well I havent!!!

Get over yourself, Screaming A.
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Fuck Stephen A. Smith


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Stephen A knows nothing about any sport that isn't basketball yet he is asked to speak about every sport on the station.

I still remember when he called Haskins a "running QB."

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Is Stephen A Smith a real human being or just someone who makes unflattering looking faces and expressions for Twitter reaction memes?

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CRON posted...

Is Stephen A Smith a real human being or just someone who makes unflattering looking faces and expressions for Twitter reaction memes?

He's a shock jock. Always have been.

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Zodd3224 posted...

I still remember when he called Haskins a "running QB."

Then doubled down on it lmao
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Stephen A!? this is terrible hes being racist AF here

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Stephen responded

https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1414661475373920267?s=20

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https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1414683724457943048

let's GO jeffy

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I guess he never tried to have a conversation with Miguel Cabrera.

https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1414683895459688452?s=20

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I mean, sure in terms of marketability having your best players speak perfect English is ideal. That being said the older generation he is talking about likely doesn't GAF what an athlete has to say anyways. Play the game like Babe Ruth and you can speak whatever language you want. Baseball fans will love you.

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Veggeta_MAX posted...

Yokozuna was able to become WWF Champion without speaking English. If he can do it then so can anyone else.

On a serious note; fuck Stephen A Smith.

He may have been champ, but he was not the FACE of WWF.
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It's worth mentioning that Ohtani can speak English, and probably well enough to comfortably do a press conference if something suddenly happened to Ippei. But he does his media relations for the benefit of Japanese fans back home. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

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If you have the means, you should learn English.

It takes a long time though and not everyone is comfortable speaking at length.
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https://twitter.com/TransGirlLovee/status/1414686418216144907

A good athlete playing a good game of sport transcends language and culture. Shohei Ohtani seems to communicate with his team perfectly fine, so there's no concern there, and he's talented and passionate which seems to be going over well with the crowd. What language he defaults to doesn't mean a fucking thing, and his popularity shows that any trouble he has "inidegrating with the American public" isn't an issue.

So what is the harm Shohei Ohtani is doing to baseball? What's the wrong message, that it's okay to speak Japanese?

If you're concerned with the way someone talks, when it doesn't seem like it affects the way they do their job or how they endear themselves to people, that seems like a you problem. Stop shifting your stupid fucking drama onto the sport as a whole and framing it as everyone's problem, because most people understand that a good game of sport is a good game of sport, and an athlete using an interpreter doesn't matter when they're running the fucking game.

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Uh yeah fuck that guy.

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Lebronwon posted...

It needs to be somebody like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, those guys

So ... White?

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