Stephen A. ESPN’s Smith on Shohei Ohtani: Star Angels using translator hurts baseball

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Shohei Ohtani is at the top of his game as a hitter and pitcher and is doing something never seen in Major League Baseball since Babe Ruth was playing in the 2000s.

With the Los Angeles Angels star set to compete in the MLB Home Run Derby Monday night, Stephen A. Smith, the most prominent figure on ESPN, wonders if Ohtani the number one star was good for the sport because he has to speak through an interpreter.

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The question of whether Ohtani’s appearance was beneficial to baseball was a topic raised on an ESPN major “First Take” on Monday — hours before the network was set to broadcast a competition in which the player is the number one seed.

In his debate with Max Kellerman, Smith said that, in his opinion, an MLB baseball player speaking through an interpreter is not a good look.

Los Angeles Angels’ Shuhei Ohtani reacts in the dugout after scoring at a sacrifice fly hit by Phil Gosselin during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, July 11, 2021, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“Even though baseball is an international sport, and I totally understand that, it is played in the United States and Canada. This is where Major League Baseball is played. So when I look at it, I look at it from that perspective. In the USA, when You talk about the sport of Major League Baseball, you talk about the lack of diversity in terms of African American players, you talk about the influx of foreign players – whether they’re from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic or Japan or somewhere else – if you’re a star and need a translator that might be He has something to do, not everything because there’s a lot of stuff that goes into it, but that might have something to do with your inability to get along with that young demographic to get them into the sport.”

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Smith criticized MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s alleged inability to make baseball appeal to a young demographic and that the sport is “always a last resort to the party.”

And while Ohtani has hit 33 home runs and has 3.49 ERAs on the hill to 13 starts, Smith said having an interpreter would hamper Ohtani’s allure.

“But the fact that you have a foreign player who doesn’t speak English, and they need a translator…believe it or not, I think it contributes to the damage of the game somewhat when that’s your box office appeal. It has to be someone like Bryce said,” Smith said. Harper, Mike Trout, These guys. Unfortunately, at the moment, that is not the case.”

Los Angeles Angels player Shuhei Ohtani, left, talks with third base coach Brian Butterfield while at base during the first half of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Sunday, July 11, 2021, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Kellerman made it clear that Ohtani is doing something no one since Ruth has done before with competition in MLB now better than it has ever been.

Smith responded to Kellerman’s point with the excitement of the race at home between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in the late 1990s.

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“Baseball was dying in the ’90s. What saved it? It was a home run competition between Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa. Now obviously Sammy Sosa later taught us that during his degree on Capitol Hill he suddenly needed an interpreter. You know, “Baseball is good.” Too much for him (with an accent). “You know what I’m saying? It wasn’t enough, he needed an interpreter to speak for him when he was on Capitol Hill. He certainly didn’t need that when he was hitting those houses,” Smith said.

“But Mark McGuire, basically, helped save baseball. Because you had a guy who you could put in boxes of Wheaties… He could please himself with the younger generations out there and get America excited about the sport of Major League Baseball. But what I’m telling you is that it’s not Well. That’s all I mean by that. I don’t take anything away from Ohtani. I know what he’s doing on the field. I know he’s nothing short of amazing and I understand that baseball is an international game, the same sport in terms of participation.

“But when you’re talking about an audience that is drawn to the tube or to the stadium to actually watch you, well, I don’t think it’s helpful Face #1 a guy who needs a translator so you can understand what the hell this is saying in this country and that’s what I’m trying to say.

“You know in other sports, Max, basketball… I noticed that Dirk Nowitzki was German and Manu Ginobili and others were from other places and guess what they were fluent in English. I understood what they were saying when someone was interviewing them. They didn’t. “I don’t need an interpreter. It goes a long way. For some reason, with Major League Baseball, you have these guys who need these interpreters and I think that’s detrimental to their ability to communicate with the American public which is what we’re really talking about.”

Kellerman added that it would be beneficial for Otani to learn English and cited players like Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera who learned the language when the New York Yankees formed a dynasty in the late 1990s.

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Smith wondered if Bryce Harper had Otani-like tears if they discussed baseball five days a week.

Smith’s comments sparked a deep reaction online.

The MLB Players Association did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

Angels declined to comment.

Major League Baseball did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

ESPN referred to Smith’s clarifying post. He explained his comments in a separate video on Twitter.

Ohtani is making his All-Star debut and likely hitting and playing at Coors Field for the MLS.

For what it’s worth, Otani can speak both English and Spanish.

He spoke English in the state during the Baseball Writers’ Guild Awards in 2019.

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In 2018, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Ohtani knows a bit more Spanish than English.

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