Ippei Mizuhara’s Unique Method to Teach Shohei Ohtani English, Years Before Two-Way Phenom’s Proficient Display

Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani are baseball’s favorite bromance. The two are as inseparable as the main characters are in a 90s buddy comedy movie. Since the very beginning, Mizuhara has been like a guardian angel of Ohtani. At the same time, he has been a guide during the superstar’s stay in the US. But sometimes Mizuhara-san’s methods have been rather unique.

When Ohtani had just entered the States in 2018, Mizuhara did everything he could to get Ohtani closer to his teammates. He found a rather interesting method to combine team bonding exercises with English lessons for the two-way phenomenon.

Ippei Mizuhara’s interesting English lessons for Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani is famously introverted and reserved on camera. His entire life revolves around baseball, which was even truer in 2018. Having just settled in a new country with a language he knew little of, Shotime felt isolated. Mizuhara sensed as much and decided to take matters into his own hands. He introduced Shohei Ohtani to a magical world – video games! 

It’s known to all that Ohtani loves manga, especially sports manga. Few know that during his initial years in the Angels, Mizuhara introduced him to another interest, found in the online world. In his bid to improve Ohtani’s relationship with his teammates as well as his English, the translator encouraged the two-way phenom to play an online multiplayer game with his teammates. 

“I’ve been learning English while playing a game online with Simmons, Ippei-san,* and someone else. As this is the kind of game that is being played while the players talking to one another, it’s a good opportunity to improve my English, especially listening,” Ohtani reportedly said to Japanese sports daily Sponichi. 

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Mizuhara’s methods clearly worked as gradually Ohtani got closer to his team. Even if the Angels never had a good record, the players became one of the most closely-knit groups in the league. At the same time, Shotime and Mizuhara-san continued growing closer too.

The iconic friendship of Mizuhara and Shotime

From grand gifts to accompanying each other everywhere, Mizuhara and Ohtani have been on a wild journey together. While for fans the most iconic moment came when Mizuhara played as the superstar’s catcher in the Home Run Derby, the two have done far more for each other in their personal lives.

Mizuhara drove Ohtani around during his initial years because the phenom didn’t have a driver’s license. He even bought Ohtani’s groceries when the star was injured in 2019, and has said on record that he spends more time with Ohtani than with his own family. As a result, this friendship has become iconic for most baseball fans.

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