This guy deserves respect ⚾️✊

I haven't watched baseball in years. Even when I did watch it sometimes in my distant past, it was always one of my least favorite sports. It is just too slow and boring for me and I'd rather watch NBA or UFC.

Even without caring at all about MLB, I still have been unable to ignore the hype surrounding one of the league's best players. I'm talking about Los Angeles Angels' star pitcher from Japan, Shoehei "Showtime" Ohtani.

Pronounced...

Shohei ||| show·hay ↔️ Ohtani ||| ow·taa·nee

This man is unlike any player the game has ever seen before. Most baseball fans would have never believed there would be a pitcher throwing 99 MPH and hitting 46 home runs in a single season. Especially not in the American League with their use of the DH, unlike the National League. Yet here Ohtani is with impressive pitching and batting stats. He won AL Rookie of the Year in 2018 and recently finished winning the AL MVP award in 2021. This guy is a straight-up stud and there is no denying it.

He may be from Japan, but he speaks English and Spanish, although he prefers working with an interpreter since he is most fluent in Japanese. I was a big fan of Ichiro growing up due to his crazy speed. Ohtani is also pretty quick but still has many years ahead to prove that he is the best Japanese baseball player to ever play in the MLB. Ichiro played 19 seasons in the MLB, while Ohtani is yet to begin his 5th season.

The world already believes in Ohtani to be one of the best players in the MLB, especially over in Japan where he has become a superstar. You can even find him on the cover of this years new baseball video game The Show 22.

You may be wondering, if Hive account@daltono doesn't like baseball, why is he talking about Shohei Ohtani? The reason being, I have been wanting a baseball jersy to wear casually. There are many cool players in the league, but Ohtani is the only one who has caught my attention from afar, so he was the obvious choice.

Instead of just going with an Angels jersey, I decided to see where he played in Japan. I discovered a gorgeous green Hokkaido Fighters jersey and instantly new it was the one. It is my favorite collor and I like the design a lot. Plus I knew baseball fans would know exactly who it was once they saw the name Ohtani on the back.

If I were to order this jersey from official outlets, it would have cost me well over $100. I instead got the idea to search for a cheaper option on Alibaba and found this https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Wholesale-Mens-Hokkaido-Nippon-Ham-Fighters_1600302484332.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_title.2e9d5d2aBubjun for about $20. Saving that kind of money is well worth the added time for the shipment to arrive. It ended up being a Christmas gift from my mom and I am excited to finally get to wear it.

This thing is very well made. It is stitched just like an authentic jersey and very breathable with holes in the material. I honestly don't see why people waste so much money on jerseys with tags when you can get pretty much the exact same thing from a less costly wholesale store. I've been buying jerseys this way for years and they are always better than I expected them to be.

So yea, I am a Shohei Ohtani fan, but I've never even watched the guy play. Just seeing his stats is enough for me to want to support the dude. It still just blows my mind that a pitcher could be dominating the leage on both sides of the plate-like this. I can't wait to see how his numbers get better once he has more time in the MLB.