Angels Fans Were Instructed To Stop Cheering So Loudly For Shohei Ohtani Because He "Likes To Focus And Block Out The Noise"
Holy shit, dude. That is baaaaaad. Apparently the Angels fans that were sitting behind the visitors dugout at Kauffman Stadium this past weekend were instructed to stop cheering so loudly because Shohei Ohtani didn’t like it.
USA Today reported that three women who were sitting behind the visitors’ dugout at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night for the Angels game against the Kansas City Royals were asked by stadium security to stop cheering so loudly during Shohei Ohtani’s at-bats. The message reportedly came from the Angels dugout. The women, who were Japanese exchange students, had no problem quieting down. And they didn’t just quiet down, they fell completely silent during Ohtani’s next at-bat.
After the game, a 5-4 for the Angels in which Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a double, Ohtani’s translator Ippei Mizuhara shed a little light on the situation to USA Today.
“He heard it, he’s thankful for the cheers,’’ said Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s interpreter, “but at the plate, he likes to focus and block out the noise.”
Ohtani, as is his way, focused on the effect it had on the team as a whole.
“I was aware of that,’’ Ohtani said, “but I wasn’t the one that asked for that. (The Angels) just did it so everyone could focus at the plate. I was thankful for that.”
Have you ever in your life heard of a dugout instructing their own fans to quiet down at a Major League Baseball game? Ohtani deflecting and saying that he had nothing to do with the Angels telling fans to stop making noise during his at-bats is the most blatant lie since Rafael Palmeiro dropped the, “I have never used steroids. Period,” line in front of Congress. I’m pretty sure that everyone else on the team has been playing in front of loud fans for years and they don’t give a fuck. This dude is so soft that I almost can’t believe he exists.
What are you thinking if you’re Angels GM Billy Eppler right now? I mean, obviously Ohtani is talented as hell. He can light up the radar gun and he can smash baseballs into the seats, but he’s only ever pitched at home or in Oakland. You know, the stadium that’s been making headlines for drawing seven thousand fans. Ohtani is going to straight up poop his pants if he has to pitch in front of a sold out Yankee Stadium in October.