Shohei Ohtani strolled through the American League dugout in the sixth inning of the All-Star Game, all of his heavy lifting seemingly behind him. The night before, his Home Run Derby round had lingered into double overtime, leaving him completely exhausted and bent at the waist, and in the matchup of All-Stars, he had pitched an inning and taken a couple of at-bats. He had worn a microphone and talked to Joe Buck and John Smoltz on Fox, and then went live on national television in Japan.
But even then there was more to do, because his responsibilities went beyond throwing and hitting. He was the headliner of the two days in Denver and carried the show, answering the needs of fans all over the world with a baseball skill set unmatched in history -- while also happily responding to the constant pull from peers drawn to his stardom.
Teoscar Hernandez, the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder, put a hand on Ohtani's and intercepted him in the dugout, asking him to share in a surprise. Hernandez's brothers are in the Dominican Republic, and because of visa issues, they were unable to attend the All-Star Game with him in the way they might have before the COVID-19 pandemic. Teoscar decided to bring the All-Star experience to them over his cellphone, and he brought Ohtani to his two brothers through FaceTime.
Ohtani doesn't speak Spanish or English, and Hernandez doesn't speak Japanese, but Ohtani knew exactly what Hernandez needed: He looked into the phone, at Hernandez's brothers, then made the sort of funny, goofy faces you might see at class picture day for fourth-graders. He and the Hernandezes laughed out loud.
A few days later, Hernandez expressed how much he appreciated Ohtani's buy-in for that moment, for the sake of Teoscar's brothers.
"Ohtani is a great guy," Hernandez said over the phone. "He was trying to be great for everybody."
Dave Roberts, the manager of the National League team and a part of professional baseball for the better part of three decades, left Denver with enormous respect for Ohtani, for how he served the game with his talent -- and just by being himself, with the outward joy of a little boy given free rein over an ice cream shop. The Rays' Kevin Cash, the manager of the AL All-Stars, said the other day, "He was in awe of his surroundings ... we're all in awe of him."
That was apparent at the Derby from the first moment that Ohtani appeared on the field. Pete Alonso was the defending champion, Joey Gallo was considered to be a sleeper, Trevor Story was the hometown favorite. But Ohtani was the guy everybody wanted to see, including players from both leagues, who filled the seating in front of the dugouts. When the Derby participants were introduced, Cash aimed his cellphone camera, first on Ohtani, before turning to his young son, J.D., knowing that above all others, J.D. would respond to Ohtani -- and sure enough, when Ohtani's name was called, J.D. let out a whoop.
Standing alongside ESPN's Marly Rivera, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. watched Ohtani prepare for the Derby, and Marly mentioned to Vlad Jr. that he should get a picture with Ohtani.
"Marly, I don't know him," Guerrero replied in Spanish. "Can you introduce me?"
The introduction was made, Marly took the picture, and the two young stars chatted happily. Later, as the Jays slugger walked off the field, he implored Marly, for a second time -- "Send me that picture."
Ohtani was the last slugger to hit in the first round of the Derby, and almost all of the All-Stars stuck around to watch him. Ohtani was still tied with Juan Soto at the end of his round of swings, still tied after a one-minute overtime session, and before his next tiebreaker with Soto, he leaned forward, totally spent.
But that smile was intact, and when he finally lost to Soto and returned to the AL side, he was swarmed by fans, and their names were Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Nelson Cruz, etc. Ohtani posed for their selfies, signed whatever was put in front of him and did whatever was asked.
Late Tuesday morning, hours before the All-Star Game, Cash called Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, to check on his scheduled starting pitcher that night because Cash was concerned they were asking too much of Ohtani. He asked Mizuhara: "How does he feel?"
Mizuhara assured him: Ohtani was already up and feeling fine and wasn't sore from the Derby. He'd be ready to go.
Cash was the first of the American Leaguers to walk through the pregame purple carpet event, and Ohtani was right behind him. When they stepped into the clubhouse, Cash sensed that Ohtani was surprised by what he saw laid out on tables: boxes and boxes of baseballs for all players, coaches and Cash to sign.
Cash mentioned to Ohtani that in light of the fact he was pitching, he shouldn't fret about signing every single baseball. The last thing in the world Cash wanted to see was Ohtani's hand or wrist getting sore from applying signatures just before he took the mound.
"Just do the best you can," Cash told Ohtani, looking to alleviate responsibility.
But Ohtani's ethic since he joined the Angels has been that, when possible, he doesn't want to be treated differently from his peers. According to clubhouse sources, Ohtani sat down and signed 50 dozen baseballs -- about 600 -- and about 10 jerseys and several bats.
Ohtani is extremely regimented in his preparation -- does he have any other choice, given his layers of responsibility, as a pitcher and a hitter? -- and he was into his pregame regimen for pitching in the visiting team's weight room when a visitor approached. Former Colts and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had been at the Derby the night before and was about to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and through the interpreter, Manning and Ohtani talked about the differences and similarities in the throwing mechanics required of pitchers and quarterbacks, both men enjoying the conversation, as Manning related to ESPN while providing pictures from the meeting.
"He was great," Manning wrote in an email.
When Ohtani finished his warm-ups, he moved briskly down the dugout steps, with the other AL players calling out his first name supportively, giving high-fives; Ohtani wore a huge grin. But he also had business to tend to: He was leading off for the American League. He dropped his glove on the bench, pulled a bat from the rack and disappeared down the tunnel to prepare for that first plate appearance. Max Scherzer, the starting pitcher for the National League, took the mound and started to warm up. Cash looked back at Ohtani and saw him pulling on his batting gloves -- and Cash thought about the enormity of what Ohtani was doing.
"He was still catching his breath from warming up to pitch," Cash recalled, "and now he was getting ready to face one of the best pitchers of all time, as the leadoff hitter."
In an All-Star Game.
Nobody had done that before. In fact, there have been only four instances in baseball history when a starting pitcher led off a game for a visiting team, as Sarah Langs of MLB.com ascertained. Jim Jones did this for the New York Giants on Sept. 30, 1901, making his only appearance of the year as a pitcher. Al Dark led off for the visiting Giants in 1953 and pitched the bottom of the first -- the only inning he would throw in his career.
Ohtani led off for the Angels and pitched on June 30 at Yankee Stadium, and then he did this for a second time at the All-Star Game. Longtime manager Terry Francona, an AL coach, looked back at him in the dugout and could see in Ohtani's face how much of an emotional and physical burden he was carrying.
"I remember thinking, 'Boy, I bet he's ready for a nap,'" Francona said in a phone conversation earlier this week.
Francona also saw how much Ohtani was getting out of the experience for himself and how intent he was on sharing with those around him.
"Through it all," Francona said, "he had a smile for everybody. It's pretty amazing how a smile put everybody at ease."
Adam Chodzko, the Angels' director of communications, boarded a plane with Ohtani after the festivities. For those two days, he had watched Ohtani extend himself, over and over and over, for everybody else, for baseball. Chodzko made his way to the back of the plane and said to Ohtani, "Thank you very much."
Ohtani reached out and shook Chodzko's hand, and with that smile -- that great smile -- he responded, in English: "You're welcome."