The last time Shohei Ohtani thought he might be in trouble was when his name was linked to a federal investigation into illegal sports gambling in March 2024.
His name was soon cleared by authorities, who charged and convicted Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, in federal court with surreptitiously stealing more than $17 million from the Dodgers superstar to pay off an Orange County bookmaker.
Ohtani wondered if something was amiss Wednesday when manager Dave Roberts summoned him before the Dodgers’ home game against the New York Mets.
But not for long. Ohtani rushed into Roberts’ office, saw a bright pink remote-controlled toy car on the ground and immediately started laughing.
“I have a gift for you,” Roberts told him. “Actually, for your daughter.”
“For my daughter? OK, thank you.” Ohtani replied.
“This is from my wife [Tricia] and me to you and your family and your daughter,” Roberts said. “So, we have jokes always. This is a little bit of a joke. It’s a Porsche. This is going to be your daughter’s first car.”
“Thank you, I love it,” Ohtani said. He tapped the car with his hand and said in English, “I thought I’m in trouble. Some trouble,” evoking laughter from Roberts and others in the room.
Ohtani had gifted Roberts a tiny toy Porsche a year ago when he broke Roberts’ franchise record of seven home runs by a Japanese-born player, placing it in the manager’s parking lot space as a practical joke.
When Ohtani signed with the Dodgers in December 2023, he gifted Ashley Kelly, the wife of pitcher Joe Kelly, a Porsche — not a toy — for Kelly giving up No. 17. Roberts kidded Ohtani about gifting him when the modest record was inevitably broken, and the new Dodgers slugger obliged with the toy.
It took Roberts — born in Naha, Okinawa, to a Japanese mother and American father — a year to reciprocate.
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“Shohei has been very gracious and we’ve got this long-running practical joke,” Roberts said on video. “This is more of a sincere gesture, not necessarily a practical joke but I wanted to present it to him.”
Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, have not revealed the name of their daughter, who was born April 19.
“I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy beautiful daughter,” Ohtani wrote on social media at the time. “To my daughter, thank you for making us very nervous yet super anxious parents.”
Super anxious? Wait until she starts driving.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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