Getty Image / Norm Hall
Shohei Ohtani isn’t just one of the most famous baseball players on planet earth, he’s one of the most famous international athletes currently playing pro sports in the US.
Ohtani or ‘ShoTime’ as he’s called in this household has a spotlight on him wherever he goes which makes this news all the more surprising. On Thursday morning, Shohei Ohtani announced that he’d gotten secretly married when the sports media was unaware he was even in a relationship. He broke the news on Instagram:
His caption in English reads:
“To all my friends and fans throughout , I have an announcement to make :
Not only have I began a new chapter in my career with the Dodgers but I also have began a new life with someone from my Native country of Japan who is very special to me and I wanted everyone to know I am now married. I am excited for what is to come and thank you for your support.”
The image is a message in his native Japanese. Ran through Google Lens, here is what it translates to:
Instagram / Shohei Ohtani
If that image is too small to read, Shohei Ohtani’s marriage announcement reads:
“Thank you for your continued warm support. As the season approaches, I would like to announce to everyone today that I have gotten married.”
“We will be starting with a new team and a new environment, but I hope that the two of us (or even just one animal) will work together, support each other, and move forward together with our fans. I think there are still many things that I’m still immature in, but I would appreciate it if you could watch over me warmly.”
“My partner is a Japanese woman. We will deal with this in a boxed interview tomorrow, so please refrain from conducting unauthorized interviews, including with parents and family members.”
Congratulations to the big guy!
Starting the season with a new team is a life-altering change. It’s hard to imagine the spotlight will shine even brighter on him than before given that he’s become the face of baseball, but ‘Shohei Ohtani getting married’ was clearly something he didn’t want to randomly leak out in the tabloids. So good on him for just telling the world and moving on.
The baseball world hopped in his comments to wish him congratulations, as expected.