By Brianna Tong & Tyler Lau,
Sports Editor & Staff Writer
With the weight of his country on his shoulders, Japanese pitcher Shohei Ohtani prepares to deliver the pitch of his life. At bat is Ohtani’s Angels teammate and United States captain, Mike Trout, the final obstacle between Japan and the World Baseball Classic championship. Needing just one strike to clinch the championship game, Ohtani takes a deep breath before looking to his catcher for a signal. Eyes zeroed in on his target, Ohtani winds up and fires the ball toward home base. Trout swings for the fences… but the ball flies true into the catcher’s glove. Ball game.
In sports, we see new headlines day after day, game after game, yet we seldom come across an Asian athlete whose name plasters the cover of a mainstream news outlet. This is especially controversial as the sole purpose of journalists is to highlight and be representative of all groups regardless of background.
This was until Shohei Ohtani arrived, making his presence known and trailblazing a path for Asian American athletes. Ohtani dominated the league for several years and quickly turned himself into a household name. In his fifth year of the MLB, Ohtani attained awards ranging from Rookie of the Year to the league MVP.
Ohtani and Japan represent the growing Asian presence in the sports world. In the World Cup, Japan and South Korea triumphed over soccer superpowers. Famous athletes such as Chloe Kim, Sunisa Lee and Naomi Osaka are trailblazers for Asians in the sports scene. Jeremy Lin, one of the most renowned Asians in basketball, is admired and praised in the Asian community as an extraordinary athlete who represented his culture during his run with the New York Knicks several years ago. However, it is painfully obvious that most of the successes are sometimes overshadowed and short-lived.
The Asian sports community is forced to immortalize small successes. At every little accomplishment, the Asian community screams with joy. To be represented on TV and to see an athlete that looks like them means the world. Ohtani and Japanese baseball are beacons of hope and a big step toward a larger and more competitive presence in sports around the world. MLB Network analyst Greg Amsinger even titled Ohtani the greatest baseball player of all time. To have an Asian be even considered the greatest of any American sport is unprecedented, but uplifting in a way that we could not have imagined.
Unfortunately, discrimination against Asians does not cease to make headlines in recent years and is overlooked. In a matchup between the Angels and the Detroit Tigers, the MLB suspended Tigers broadcaster Jack Morris after he used an accent to mock Ohtani. Similarly, Instagram users bashed U.S. Olympian Chloe Kim calling her names and telling her to return to China and stop taking medals away from white American girls. An opposing player even went as far as calling Lin “coronavirus” during an NBA G League game. These are just a few instances of racism and discrimination that Asian athletes face.
However, Ohtani’s presence is empowering. As Asian American athletes, both of us are incredibly grateful for the recent shift to more Asian representation in the pros.
Growing up, Lin was the only athlete we were able to look to for inspiration. But even with Lin, we did not get to see as much of him as we hoped for and it was hard to feel like we fit into club teams for basketball.
Thankfully, Ohtani’s success seems to look like it’s headed in the right direction and the sky is the limit. This will hopefully inspire young Asian athletes to pick up a bat, a basketball or any other sport for that matter.
A young aspiring athlete’s face will radiate with a large smile as they point to the TV screen jumping up and down as they see a pitcher who looks just like them take the field. When this happens, we can sit back, relax and wait patiently for that same child to develop into a professional athlete who the entire Asian community will be cheering for.