Getty Image
New Los Angeles Dodgers slugger slash pitcher Shohei Ohtani made all sorts of news this past off-season for a very unexpected reason.
No, we’re not talking about his translator Ippei Mizuhara racking up millions of dollars in gambling debt using Ohtani’s money. We’re talking about Shohei getting married out of nowhere when no one in America even seemed to know that he had a girlfriend.
After a couple of weeks of speculation about who is was that he actually got married to, it was eventually revealed that Ohtani’s new wife is Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.
According to her FIBA profile, Tanaka, who also goes by Mana, is 5-foot-11 and is 27-years-old. She plays in the WJBL (Women’s Japan Basketball League) the top women’s basketball league in Japan and averaged 7.8 points per game during the 2022-2023 season.
On Thursday, Shohei and Mamiko Ohtani made their first formal public appearance together at the Eighth Annual Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s Blue Diamond Gala.
Shohei and Mamiko Ohtani at the Dodgers Blue Diamond Gala pic.twitter.com/TsTlonCF51
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 3, 2024
Prior to that event, the only time fans had seen Mamiko Ohtani was at Dodgers games. She first appeared at one was in Seoul during Shohei’s eventful Dodgers’ debut – a game in which he shattered the roof of the Gocheok Sky Dome with a 119 mph foul ball.
So far this year, Ohtani has made Dodgers fans very happy, leading the National League with 14 doubles and 81 total bases, with 7 home runs and 19 RBI, while batting .336 on the young season.
Thursday night, Shohei Ohtani made many others on the internet smile when the suit he wore to the gala elicited a number of jokes on social media.
Is he hoping he keeps growing and eventually fit that jacket?
— FrankyDiego 🇦🇺 (@pfrankyx) May 3, 2024
“He can’t afford a tailor?” another person asked.
“Can somebody please find Shohei a jacket that fits him. He looks like the kid from Big when Tom Hanks shrinks down,” another person wrote.
My man has too much money to be wearing his Dads church blazer 🤦♀️
— Heather Whited (@HeatherWhited1) May 3, 2024
“This brother needs a stylist,” read another comment.
“Whoever tailored this suit needs to be arrested,” someone else complained.
A billion dollars and that’s the best suit he’s got?
— SportsBettingBub (@FantasyFootBub) May 3, 2024
“Shohei just payin homage to the ‘03 NBA draft class,” another fan joked, accurately.
“Large suits are back baby! He just needs to buy an extra wide tie with his Kohl’s cash,” read another comment.