Shohei Ohtani, center, is interviewed after participating in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on July 13, 2021. (Mainichi/Hojin Fukunaga)

       Yutaka Nakamura, 49, is a personal trainer to 24-year-old tennis star Naomi Osaka. In this edition of his regular series, Nakamura, who has been in the U.S. for 30 years, introduces the preferences and way of thinking of top athletes in the U.S. he can relate to through sports. This time, he is mainly talking about Los Angeles Angels' two-way player Shohei Ohtani, 27.

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       I used to belong to a baseball team when I was in elementary school, and after I moved to the United States in 1991 I sometimes trained baseball players. When I was attending a university in California, Hideo Nomo joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, and I became a Dodgers fan. Even now, I sometimes go to watch Dodgers games, and Japanese players such as Ohtani, on my days off.

       I often get asked by my Japanese friends, "How is Ohtani viewed in America?" When this season started, he wasn't getting much attention, but he has continued to produce excellent results in both pitching and hitting, and his popularity has soared. When he appears on the field, the crowd goes wild, and I think he is one of the top five "faces" in Major League Baseball.

       Shohei Ohtani is interviewed after participating in the Home Run Derby at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, on July 12, 2021. (Mainichi/Hojin Fukunaga)

       Americans like flashy players who can strike out batters and hit home runs. Ohtani does both, pitching 100 miles per hour and hitting 46 homers. On top of that, he runs. When he runs, he makes a lot of contact plays, and there are concerns about injury, but he often steals bases.

       In the All-Star Game, Ohtani pitched and hit for the first time in history. He is truly extraordinary. It's the American dream to make people excited by trying something different and achieving results.

       The two-way player's polite manners also attract fans. He picks up trash when he sees it, and doesn't spit on the ground. He is always calm and smiling, and his teammates call him "Shohei" and admire him.

       Baseball is immensely popular in the U.S., but since the fan base is mostly middle-aged and older, MLB is trying to promote players who are likely to gain popularity among young people. This year's homerun title holder, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays), and several other players aged 22 or 23 are getting a lot of attention in the media, such as Yu Darvish's teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), a 22-year-old player from the Dominican Republic.

       MLB also wants to market itself as an international sport. Ohtani has shone in this regard with his amazing skills. Before the season, some people pointed out that the Japanese star should concentrate on either pitching or hitting, but now baseball commentators are accepting his playstyle, for example by calling it a world only he can understand.

       Will he be capable of doing great as a two-way player next year? What kind of choice will he make when he becomes a free agent in two years? There is no end to the talk about Ohtani in the U.S.

       From a trainer's point of view, pitching right-handed and hitting left-handed is good because it does not unbalance the left-right gyration movement. I'm sure there are parts that can be supplemented by training and care, but playing two-way must place a considerable burden on the body. The Angels are located in California, which is a warm climate, so I think that is an advantage.

       (Interview by Hiromi Nagano, Tokyo City News Department. Nagano is a former professional tennis player who has competed in all four major tournaments.)

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       Reader's question: I am a tennis coach and was asked for advice by another coach. A female junior high school player was hitting the ball with a lot of power and made a lot of mistakes, so the coach advised her on how to hit the ball. However, she couldn't accept the advice and stopped taking lessons. How would you respond to her if she came back? (From a man in his 50s)

       Answer: Going against a coach is a sign that she is working seriously. The solution is to change the way of communication or to talk to another coach, or to accept her attitude and say something like, "thank you for coming back." Coaches are there to merely guide players. I think it's important for athletes to think things through on their own, because if they feel too strongly about the need to be guided, they will leave it up to others.

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       Profile: Yutaka Nakamura is originally from Tokyo and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for Naomi Osaka, the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Open and the 2019 and 2021 Australian Open champion. Nakamura has led training programs for many professionals including Maria Sharapova, Kei Nishikori, Tommy Haas, Mary Pierce and Jennifer Capriati.

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