Review by Library Journal Review
The game of baseball has seen the likes of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and many others, but no player since Babe Ruth has produced the numbers Shohei Ohtani did in 2021. Quite simply, the six-foot-four-inch, 27-year-old Ohtani played the greatest season of all time. Award-winning sportswriter Fletcher chronicles Ohtani's otherworldly season and backtracks to detail his journey from a child prodigy in Japan to the MLB and how it was not always easy. He battled a few injuries in his career, including torn ligament inside his elbow, but ultimately overcame them and has exceeded his expectations. Few can throw a ball over 100 mph, hit more than 40 home runs, and steal more than 20 bases in one season. This is a great telling of Ohtani's story and Fletcher does a wonderful job of unfolding his career thus far. VERDICT Fans of Ohtani and anyone intrigued by the baseball phenom will enjoy this fascinating story.--Gus Palas
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
He's an ace pitcher. He's a power-hitting designated hitter. And he's still something of a mystery. In a sport that has struggled mightily to groom household names in recent years, Shohei Ohtani (b. 1994) is a legitimate celebrity. A once-in-a-generation talent both on the mound and at the plate, the Japanese player became the subject of a bidding frenzy in 2017 when he decided to leave his homeland's major leagues to play in Major League Baseball. Ohtani opted to play for the Los Angeles Angels and struggled to find his footing thanks to injuries, Tommy John surgery, and a pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But he was still the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, and 2021 was a breakout year: He pitched 157 strikeouts, posted an excellent 3.18 ERA, hit 46 home runs and 10 triples, and was named AL MVP. Who is this guy? Fletcher, a beat reporter for the Angels, scored excellent access to the front-office maneuverings behind Ohtani's signing and to coaches and teammates amazed at his talents. (Angels manager Joe Maddon wrote the book's foreword.) But Ohtani himself, who generally avoids one-on-one interviews, offers little beyond game-specific comments, and the book sometimes drowns in stats, details about finger blisters, and innocuous quotes. In fact, the narrative is often livelier when the focus isn't directly on Ohtani, as when Fletcher catches up with a husband-and-wife pair who obsessively attend Ohtani's games, details forgotten two-way players in the Negro Leagues, and explores just why two-way players are so rare (partly talent, partly the business of baseball). If Ohtani has interests beyond the game, Fletcher hasn't uncovered them, but Ohtani's laser focus plainly pays dividends. He belongs to "a super small class," one rival GM says. "There's one in the world." A glimpse into the life of a sports legend whose story is still being written. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
