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Last December, MBL icon Shotei “Shotime” Ohtani inked a decade-old, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The deal was deemed the largest in the history of professional sports, and saw the Japanese player leave the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, California to make his debut as the Dodgers’ designated hitter on March 20 in a game against the San Diego Padres during the MLB Seoul Series.
Shotei marked his first home run for his new team on April 3 against the San Francisco Giants and reached a new milestone on Tuesday when he celebrated his one-year anniversary since leaving the franchise where he spent the first six seasons of his MLB career on a half-full Angel Stadium where his new team faced his old one.
His return was mostly cheerful, which proved there were quite a few Dodgers fans present, accompanied by some booing from Angels fans who were not happy about his decision to leave the franchise.
Ohtani’s departure brought a serious hit to the LA Angels reflected in the poor game attendance on Tuesday – something that likely made the Angels not treat his return with too much reverence.
No Video Played at the Stadium Video, Only Graphic Display of Accomplishments
On Monday, the Athletic’s Sam Blum reported that there were no plans to honor the Japanese player before the game, and the decision was noticed in the graphic showing accomplishments including Rookie of the Year, two MVPs, and two Silver Sluggers.
The Angels did play a video on their X account with an English-Japanese caption reading “Welcome back to Angels stadium Shotei!” accompanied by a unicorn emoji.
The baseball franchise also played a tribute video in March for his return to Anaheim when he visited the team during a spring training game that was paused for over a minute, triggering loud cheers from fans.
