In World Series Full of Stars, Shohei Ohtani Stands Alone

LOS ANGELES — Such is the intensity of the Beatlemania-like fervor around Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani that even non-stories become breaking-news headlines.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts again affirmed Thursday that Ohtani will not be pitching in the World Series, starting Friday at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani has not pitched all year as he continues to recover from major elbow surgery 13 months ago, and he’s been solely a designated hitter in 2024 while becoming MLB’s first player with 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season. There has not been any serious consideration by the team of deviating from a long-established plan to wait until 2025 for Ohtani to return to pitching. 

Still, the repeated assertion by Roberts that there is “no possibility” Ohtani will pitch in the Fall Classic against the Yankees generated widespread coverage and news alerts. 

While the prospect of Ohtani on the mound in the World Series is farcical, the business impact of the phenom on this event is quite real and spectacular. Already, Ohtani has been a primary driver of major postseason viewership increases for MLB, both in the U.S. and in Japan. In each country, viewership of Game 1 on Friday (Saturday morning in Tokyo) could easily exceed 15 million. That figure, if it happens, will beat the prior MLB postseason viewership record in Japan of 12.9 million, set during the Dodgers’ National League Division Series–clinching win over the Padres.

Of the 42 countries and territories that have purchased World Series tickets on StubHub, Ohtani’s home country of Japan is tops outside of North America in terms of sales volume. Even before the World Series, Ohtani has fueled numerous other pieces of new business, including a dozen new Japanese sponsors for the Dodgers, a spike in Japanese fan tours of Dodger Stadium, and alterations in the club’s merchandise and concessions offerings. Before the playoffs, Ohtani had MLB’s top-selling player jersey and the Dodgers retained their place as the league’s leading attendance draw. 

Even in a World Series rife with other stars, including the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, and Ohtani’s own teammates, Mookie Betts and Japanese countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani is the main attraction. 

Roberts, normally far from the day-to-day crunching of television numbers, also predicted historic results in Japan, driven heavily by Ohtani.

“I think it’s a 100th percentile outcome,” Roberts said of the projected Japan ratings. “Obviously, there’s a strategy as far as the skill set of the player and then the global impact it could have on the fan-based organization. … So just to see the way [Ohtani and Yamamoto] have performed, the way they’ve assimilated with our fan base, the clubhouse, all that stuff, [it’s] been a perfect outcome. That’s part of the math with [president of baseball operations] Andrew [Friedman] and [owner] Mark Walter in getting these guys.”

Keeping It Low Key

A critical part of Ohtani’s charm and appeal has been how seemingly at ease he’s been with all the attention. Even as throngs of reporters feverishly circled around him again Thursday during a World Series workout day at Dodger Stadium—where the Beatles played their next-to-last concert date in 1966—Ohtani was his normal, affable self. 

“I have been watching the World Series every year and watching in the sense of disappointment because I couldn’t play in one,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, recalling six losing years spent previously with the crosstown Angels. “But this year, I’m able to participate in one, and I’m very much looking forward to it.”