Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played

by Jeff Fletcher

The story behind Major League Baseball’s two-way playing phenomenon and his rise from early days in Japan to his historic 2021 MVP season.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels is playing baseball like no other major leaguer since Babe Ruth. His dominance as a two-way player—an electric pitcher and an elite slugger—made him the 2021 American League Most Valuable Player, the only player ever selected as an All Star as both a pitcher and hitter, and a member of Time 100’s most influential people of 2021.

In Ohtani’s first two-way game of the 2021 season, he threw a pitch at 100 mph and hit a homer that left his bat at 115 mph, a confluence of feats unmatched by anyone else in the sport. He racked up eye-popping achievements all year. But awards and numbers tell only part of his amazing story.

In Sho-Time, award-winning sportswriter Jeff Fletcher, who has covered Ohtani more than any other American journalist, charts Ohtani’s path through Japanese baseball to a championship with the Nippon-Ham Fighters, the recruiting war to bring him to the majors, his 2018 AL Rookie of the Year campaign, subsequent injury-riddled seasons, and then his historic 2021 season. Along the way, Fletcher weaves in the history of two-way players—including Babe Ruth and unsung Negro Leagues players like “Bullet” Joe Rogan, Martín Dihigo, and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe—and the Japanese athletes who preceded Ohtani in the majors. With insight from Japanese and American baseball front office personnel, managers, scouts, athletic trainers, ballplayers, and more, Sho-Time breaks down the physics of Ohtani’s game, his technologically advanced training, his international fame, and the role he and teammate Mike Trout are playing to lead baseball into the next generation.

Praise for Sho-Time

“Jeff Fletcher masterfully chronicles not only what Ohtani accomplished in ‘21, but also provides the full context to his achievements. . . . Fletcher’s book is the definitive look at Ohtani’s two-way majesty.” —Ken Rosenthal, Senior Writer at The Athletic

“Historians will be talking about Shohei Ohtani’s 2021 season for decades, and thankfully the baseball gods arranged for Jeff Fletcher to be there to cover baseball’s best two-way player ever in the midst of a pandemic, to bear witness and mine details and write with grace about the sport’s most incredible individual performance.” —Buster Olney, ESPN

“The essential portrait of baseball’s most captivating player. . . . Fletcher goes beyond the carefully scripted press conferences, revealing in vivid detail the challenges and triumphs of a baseball journey like no other.” —Tyler Kepner, The New York Times

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, Japan

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2022

Reviews

[Olive Fellows (abookolive)]

Not since Babe Ruth has a baseball player been able to pitch and hit at an elite level in the major leagues. Not until Shohei Ohtani, that is.

He was a star in his native Japan, playing for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters before crossing the Pacific to play for the Los Angeles Angels in 2018. Expectations for Ohtani were enormous, but after his promising start was sullied by injuries, no one thought he would come back to have a 2021 season for the record books.

Jeff Fletcher, the Los Angeles Angels beat writer for the Southern California News Group, examines Ohtani’s career thus far in “Sho-time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played.”

Click here to read the rest of my review in the Christian Science Monitor!

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

has anyone suffered more than this guy

[Joe Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine, but it felt more like a book for people who had heard about Ohtani and had a vague idea about him rather than for baseball fans who were very familiar with him and his career. Very few new insights or details. Plus, it’s VERY short.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a well-done look at Ohtani’s origins, early success in Japan, decision to come to the Angels, and the ups and downs that ultimately led to his incredible 2021 MVP season. (Crazily enough, the book’s subtitle about “the greatest season ever played” became outdated within months of its release — as Ohtani outdid himself in 2022.) l would’ve loved to have gotten a little more about off-the-field Ohtani, though I get that he’s a private person and details are hard to come by. (I also selfishly would’ve loved a mention of the July 2, 2021 game — which I went to for my 40th birthday — where Ohtani blasted two homers, and then, in the bottom of the ninth, walked, stole a base and narrowly beat out a throw to the plate for the winning run, hands raised in victory, flat on his back, huge smile on his face. Best game I ever witnessed in person.) Anyway, Ohtani is awesome and I learned a lot about him and relived a lot of fun memories from his first several seasons while reading this book.

[Pook S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been anticipating this book for months before it came out, and I was really excited to finally get a chance to read it. While, like some others on here have said, I would have liked some more insight on Shohei as a person, it still met my expectations. It’s truly the best summary of his young career that Fletcher could have produced at this point, with Shohei still being rather reserved in the media and only having one season as a true superstar. I really enjoyed the connections Fletcher made to different aspects of baseball history, such as other Japanese players, the Negro Leagues, and Babe Ruth.

Ohtani will hopefully continue building on his career for the next decade, and I would love to read an updated version of this book when that time comes. In the meantime, he remains one of the baseball world’s biggest superstars and one of my favorite players, and I’m very glad this book was written about him.

[Niklas Bergljung · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book if you want a summary of his years with Angels but it doesn't really contain any new info.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even casual baseball fans are very familiar with the accomplishments of Shohei Ohtani, the most successful two-way -layer in the major leagues since Babe Ruth. This book by Jeff Fletcher on Ohtani’s historic 2021 season is a decent read with the best sections coming early in the book.

The best parts of the book are not about Ohtani’s time in the major leagues, at that point all with the Los Angeles Angels. Those are reserved for Ohtani’s time in Japan, when he played professionally for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. This was probably the most significant aspect of Ohtani’s professional baseball career because as soon as major league scouts discovered the talented pitcher and hitter, he had thoughts about not playing in Japan and going directly to America. However, after announcing that he was not going to play in Japan, that is what he ended up doing through 2017 before joining the Angels.

It is here that the book, although decent in the details written about Ohtani with the Angels, loses its luster for me and other passionate baseball fans because there really isn’t a lot about Ohtani in the book that hasn’t already been said or reported elsewhere. Nothing on the diamond or his injuries in 2019 or 2020 were new to me. The most interesting aspects of these chapters were about the marketing of Ohtani by the Angels and his work with different translators.

While there would not be too many people, even non-baseball fans, who don’t know who Ohtani is, this book would be best for those who fall into this category. As he now starts a new chapter in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, this book can be considered a decent recap of his time with the other Los Angeles team.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was just okay. I like in-game drama in my baseball books, and this doesn't contain that. In hindsight, this book feels like it was written way too early in Ohtani's career (therefore unable to provide a true measure of the history Shohei is trying to achieve). Also, Fletcher's writing style seems to take the flair out of the excitement Shohei generates.

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tricky thing about books like this, is that they become outdated pretty quickly. Ohtani is still very much an active baseball player. So a book like this being written already...

This book revolves around Ohtani's 2021 MVP season with the Angels. And already there has been a revision/addition made to the original text. The edition I read is the updated version, which includes Ohtani's 2023 WBC performance. An argument could be made that his best season was 2022, 2023 (even though he was injured by the end), or even the ongoing 2024 season with the Dodgers.

I will say, the most interesting parts are in the first third of the book. Ohtani's pre-MLB days. Because if you're any kind of baseball fan, then the rest of the book is just stuff we've already heard/seen. If anything, the last two-thirds are a nice chronicle of his time with the Angels.

Reading this in 2024 is a trip to be honest. "Aged like milk" is a phrase that frequently came to mind as I read. The way I cringed at "Mizuhara has done his job well ever since Ohtani joined the Angels. Almost all the quotes in this book attributed to Ohtani are via Mizuhara's translations." Yeah. Iykyk.

True rating: 3.5/5

[Taka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of baseball nor Shohei Ohtani before coming across this book. Reading this book was a life-changing experience and I simply could not put this book down once I began reading. I gained an immense amount of respect for Mr. Ohtani and his unprecedented exploits in professional baseball.

It also seemed to me, an impartial observer with no prior interest in baseball, that the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters played an immensely pivotal role in the genesis of the greatest baseball player to ever live, and so I would urge all elite baseball prospects to consider signing with the Fighters at a steep discount to advance their careers.

[Cole Kitagawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

We will never see another player like Shohei Ohtani. His humble beginnings and meteoric rise to baseball stardom are a must read. If you are fan of baseball you want to read this.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it’s alright

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Shawnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I love Ohtani and baseball! As an Angels' fan I already knew most of what happened in this book but still enjoyed hearing the details and some new pieces of info. It was a trip down memory lane too for the last few seasons with the Angels. I found learning about Babe Ruth's training and more about other 2-way players interesting as well. If you don't know much about Ohtani I think this is a good place to start and Fletcher describes his baseball career in a way that's fun to read and easy to follow.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was skeptical about there already being a biography of Shohei Ohtani - usually I'm more of a fan of waiting until the end of someone's career to catalog and reflect upon it. However, this was really well done and made perfect sense. It's predominantly the story of his 2021 baseball season, some background for context, and a bit of reflection about what his success could mean for the future of the game. Realistically, I still think Shohei is an amazing outlier, not a sign that this type of player will ever become close to the norm, but he is blazing trails in case someone with these skills can crop up again.

[Joe Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extra half star because I love Ohtani so much. Best parts of the book where Shohei’s days in Japan and the historical comparisons and history on Babe Ruth and the Negro leagues. I have a feeling there will be an epic book on Ohtani once his playing days are done.

[Lou]

I think I was a very good fit for this book. I'd heard about Ohtani Shohei, but didn't know much about him, and overall, I would describe myself more as a conceptual, than actual, fan of baseball (I was raised on basketball, srry). It meant that I came in with minimal Ohtani knowledge and pretty much just baseball basics. If you're already familiar with Ohtani and his career, I don't know how much you'll gain from reading this one.

I enjoyed learning about Ohtani's origins and seeing his journey in the MLB through the 2021 season, and I liked learning about the baseball world generally. I found the minutiae around the draft and player development and other information about what it takes to make the sport run. In the sports fiction I frequently encounter, there's almost always one goal, the big game, Koshien, etc., so I liked seeing what it looks like to consider a sports career in a more ongoing way, rather than being associated with a single goal, if that makes sense. Additionally, the discussion around two-way players was fascinating - Fletcher provides historical context, from Babe Ruth to the all-rounders in the Negro league to more recent examples, as well as discussing the future of the play style.

In some ways it feels less like a biography and more like a memoir, even though I generally think about memoirs as autobiographical? It just zeroes in on such a short amount of time, and it really feels like it's describing the beginning of Ohtani's journey. The title might call it "the greatest baseball season ever played" and that might be true, but it almost seems like it needs a caveat - "so far!" "yet!" At this point in his story, Ohtani hasn't even made it to the post-season in the MLB. So I won't say that this book shouldn't have been written, but it is interesting to read a bio about somebody that is so clearly just getting started.

[Marty Monforte · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shoei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played” by Jeff Fletcher chronicles Ohtani’s formation as a baseball player in Japan and the first five years of his career in the major leagues.

The book features a review of some of Ohtani’s accomplishments and memorable moments as a player. Additionally, the book details some of his challenges and setbacks, and the hard work that Ohtani has shown in overcoming his injuries and setbacks. Also, the book contains good quotes from managers and executives who worked for the Angels during Ohtani’s time there as a player. Some of these quotes explain why Ohtani was allowed to play and why he was given a day off on certain days. Also, on certain days, Ohtani was put on a pitch count, which limited the number of pitches he would throw for a certain game.

The book also features intermittent comparisons between Ohtani and Babe Ruth, who spent some time in his career as both a hitter and a pitcher. Furthermore, the book helps to reinforce some of the accomplishments of players who played in the Negro Leagues who pitched and hit well.

As someone who has pitched and hit well at the big league level, Ohtani has had a unique impact on the game of baseball. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Ohtani’s team for the first six years of his career, tried to manage Ohtani is a way that preserved both of his talents. With a combination of respect, admiration and dialogue with Ohtani, the Angels helped him to fulfill his potential as a hitter and a pitcher. This has not been an easy task for the Angels or Ohtani, because injuries can happen to both pitchers and hitters. Additionally, it is a challenge for any player, especially a player trying to pitch and hit at the big league level, to maintain a balanced playing schedule that helps a player to contribute to the team and avoid injury and get enough rest. Nevertheless, this book shows how the Angels and Ohtani tried to navigate these challenges.

The book also offers good coverage of the 2021 season, one of Ohtani’s best seasons. At the All Star break of the 2021 season, many players made good and respectful comments about the season Ohtani was having. They respectfully discussed how impressed they were that Ohtani was both hitting and pitching so well. The author included many quotes from these players that helped reinforce the positive impact that Ohtani was making in the major leagues. Additionally, that chapter also featured quotes from Ohtani about his season.

There is also a good chapter that details other baseball players who have been able to hit and pitch well, but were never encouraged to allowed at the major league level to do both.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in Major League Baseball or anyone who appreciated the career of Shohei Ohtani.

[Ashley Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a diehard Blue Jays fan, but in 2024 when they had one of their worst seasons with merely 74 wins and not a chance at postseason baseball, I chose the Los Angeles Dodgers as my fallback team. Shohei Ohtani had just joined that year and saying he's a superstar is putting it mildly. I never did follow him during his years with the Los Angeles Angels, but this book definitely filled in those gaps.

I didn't even know a two-way player was a possibility until I heard about Shohei Ohtani. Since Babe Ruth was well before my time, I didn't even realize he was one. Even then, he wasn't really a true two-way player for an extended period of time, just from 1918-1919 during his time with the Boston Red Sox. Once he was traded to the New York Yankees in 1920, he focused solely on hitting. Shohei by contrast has been a two-way player for his entire career, including his time with the Japanese league.

This book really made me appreciate Shohei even more. Not only for his obvious, insane talent on the field, but also his humble, down-to-earth nature off the field. Even though he is making an obscene amount of money with the Dodgers now, you can tell from listening to this book and his pre- or post-game interviews, that it's never really been about the money for him. He wants to be on a winning team that will be able to help him develop his skills the most, and he most definitely puts his time and attention when he's off the field to all the ways he can achieve that goal. He truly is a generational player and I for one will be eager to see what new feats he accomplishes as his career continues. I also really want to visit Oshu in Japan now!

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very straightforward account of Ohtani's MLB career through the 2022 season* with the Angels. It wasn't groundbreaking, but it was what I wanted: a read that gave me context as a new and casual Dodgers fan. I now have more understanding of Ohtani's craft, the significance of him a two-way player, and the various ups and downs he has gone through with his individual play and the Angels as a team. If you're a huge baseball fan and followed this chapter of his career as it was happening, you probably won't learn anything new. It talks a little bit about his childhood and professional baseball in Japan, but not as much as I hoped. He has been very private in spite of the spotlight. I do admire the deep focus he brings to baseball.

Now onto L.A. Story: Shohei Ohtani, The Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages!

*Note that the original edition of the book only goes through the 2021 season. You'll want a copy that has the new chapter for the following season.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may be a little difficult to follow if you’re not familiar with the basics of the game, but even then it’s still a pretty easy read if you’re a new Shohei fan or just someone who’s curious about the hype. It’s not really giving his “life story” it simply explains his journey from Japan to the Angels. So if you’re already a diehard fan and know ball, it may seem a bit repetitive or boring. It goes into detail of his signing/moving process, his surgery, injuries and rehab and his incredible stats after he healed. Shohei is already a very private person so I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new on that end, especially since it took months just to get him to reveal his coffee order. But to read his journey (transitioning into major, overcoming his injuries, proving the haters wrong, comeback during covid, testing his endurance as a TWP, etc) all at once through the eyes of someone who saw it in person was really interesting. We are witnessing history being made all the time by this man and this book only scratches the surface of his career!

[Jeff Netting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very enjoyable read, and I think the book is the perfect length. The early chapters, about Ohtani’s years in Japan, are especially interesting, and I also enjoyed the chapters about his early seasons with the Angels and the challenges he faced. I felt that the chapters on his 2021 season were a slog at times, if only because I knew more about that season beforehand, so sometimes I was simply reading a recap of things I already knew. Still, it’s a well-written book, Fletcher keeps the spotlight on Ohtani and never crowds us with his own opinions, and he’s made the book the perfect length by only including what’s interesting and essential. A nice read.

Note: After reading other people’s reviews, I agree that the book isn’t as useful for people already familiar with Ohtani, and I also agree that we’ll have to wait years from now, at the end of Ohtani’s career, to get a book that can really capture his place in history. Still, that being said, I enjoyed reading this all the same.

[Kaster Weinstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sho-Time is a fun book to read for those who have not really paid attention to Shohei Ohtani’s journey throughout the major leagues. If you are an MLB super fan, an Angels fan or really someone that has just kept up with the Unicorn in general, this book doesn’t offer too much in terms of groundbreaking writing. Though I can’t fault it too much for being welcoming to those who do not know analytics or Ohtani’s journey, I can’t help but think a deep dive into the life of Shohei shouldn’t be so surface-level in its approach. One great piece that feels different to the rest in this book however, was the World baseball Classic chapter, which lead me to have some great insights into the Japanese team and their conquest of the most recent WBC.

Overall this was a decent and fast read that really served to prep me for a few conversations I’m going to have in the future about the Dodgers new 2-way star (and yes, I’m a huge Dodgers fan and have been since the dark days).

[Diana Antilles · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. A solid book on one of the best players in baseball. For someone who is already a fan, some of the writing could have been better, and some of the info seemed to be pretty basic, although that is probably geared towards people who don't know that much about Sho already. It's also funny reading this book in April of 2024, after Sho has signed his $700M deal and the Ippei scandal is ongoing. I hope the author decides to update this book sometime in the next few years, and also once Sho retires because he really is just getting started, and there is no limit to the heights he will reach in baseball. As a fan, I feel very blessed that I've gotten to see him play as an Angel, at the 2022 All Star Game, and also in Dodger blue in person. Looking forward to at least 10 more years of Sho-Time in Dodger blue!

[Benjamin Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more of a 2 1/2 star. It’s fine. It’s more for people who are casual fans. The first few chapters, focused on Ohtani’s background, play in Japan, and move to America could have been expanded. I’d have also liked a lot more going into Babe Ruth and the two way players of the Negro Leagues. Could have sacrificed the in-depth coverage of his Angels tenure which is a bit of a slog at times. Having to relive that many recaps of Angels games is quite a slog. Idk how Angels fans do it, and I’m a cubs fan

[Clint Hannah-Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think someone who isn't already interested by/a fan of Shohei Ohtani is going to enjoy this, as it does get into the weeds sometimes. That being said--I quite enjoyed it. It is crazy to remember that people thought Ohtani was a bust briefly. I think the book can be a little repetitive at times, restating various facts or brief stories in separate chapters, but overall it was fun. I think Ohtani's story has only gotten more interesting since this book, so a future book might be more exciting and make this feel more dated. For now? Glad I read it.

[Dave Cottenie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was just not that interesting. Although the idea of Ohtani as a unique phenomenon is interesting, the author failed to connect the man with the audience. The reader leaves the book feeling that they don’t know anymore about Ohtani or he man than they did before reading. The process of him getting to the Angels was interesting, but everything else seemed like a simple resume.

[Tory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at the 2021 season of the baseball phenomenon Shohei Ohtani. This book is a good overview of Ohtani's success, but as other reviews have mentioned, there is little insight into Ohtani as a person, such as what drives him and how he developed into such an outstanding two-way player. There are many narrative sections of statistics, which stats readers likely would prefer (and could easily understand) in a chart, and which non-stats readers likely skim over.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit bland and on the statistical side, but this book is Shohei 101 for any fan, as it covers the ups and downs of his baseball career in MLB. Jeff Fletcher has been following Shohei from the very beginning, so it's very thorough! I enjoyed the quotes from Shohei's managers through the years, along with his agent, teammates, and peers. One day, a much longer book will be written about the LEGEND that is Shohei Ohtani, but until then..

[Natalie]

as someone who knew nothing about him or the angels before reading, this was a very readable account of his career -- though, obviously, because of when it was published, it doesnt cover what he has achieved this year and his move to the dodgers, which i also would have loved to learn about / will definitely be a miss for people looking for comprehensive accounts.
hard to rate, so leaving the rating blank, but id say 3 stars?