"I want her to say that she misses me" - Shohei Ohtani's response to missing wife Mamiko Tanaka during road trips melts hearts
Shohei Ohtani has had a busy six months, as aside from the $700 million free agency move to the LA Dodgers, he has seen a variety of headlines. From his marriage to being linked to a gambling scandal that allegedly took millions from him, Ohtani has been in the news daily.
While some fans have questioned his credibility due to the scandal involving his former translator, Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani has legions of fans. Part of why Ohtani is so popular is his personality, as he always comes across as humble, polite and honest, and this was on display in a press conference on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani was asked whether his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, has attended road games, to which he responded that she hasn't. Ohtani explained:
"We don't have that many days off yet, and we (the Dodgers) basically travel quite a lot on our days off. We just go for walks together and things like that, but we haven't had many full days off at home yet, and I don't think we'll be going out for a full day yet."
When asked if he gets lonely without her, Ohtani responded:
"I want (my wife) to say that she misses me."
This obviously left an impression with fans online, who flooded the comments section with adoration.
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers look every part World Series contenders in 2024
After Shohei Ohtani joined the team, a succession of big-money deals followed, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez. Given the talent already on the roster, with names like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman standing out, the Dodgers are World Series favorites in 2024.
The question on many people's minds was whether the roster would gel on the field, that maybe personality differences or too many new faces would cause the team to slump. That certainly hasn't been the case, and the Dodgers stand at 15-11 and atop the NL West.
Shohei Ohtani has looked good in Dodger blue, and while unable to pitch in 2024 has recorded good batting stats of 39 hits, 22 runs, 16 RBIs, 6 home runs and 5 stolen bases, batting at a .371 average.
Ohtani just hit his hardest home run of the year, an 118.7 mph rocket that helped the Dodgers record a 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.
All told, Shohei Ohtani and the LA Dodgers are going to take some stopping this season.