{"product_id":"sho-time-the-inside-story-of-shohei-ohtani-and-the-greatest-baseball-season-ever-played-9781635769234","title":"Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story behind Shohei Ohtani’s legendary MVP season as baseball’s greatest two-way player—dominant pitcher and DH with otherworldly power at the plate—from his early days in Japan to his historic 2021 season, the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and more!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eShohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels plays baseball like no other athlete on the planet—an electric two-way player awarded the 2021 American League Most Valuable Player, the only player ever named an All-Star Selection as both a two-way dominant pitcher and elite hitter, a member of \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e 100’s most influential people of 2021, and now the MVP of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. 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's racked up eye-popping achievements throughout his career, but awards and numbers tell only part of his amazing story.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e, 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 AL Rookie of the Year campaign, subsequent injury-riddled seasons, the historic 2021 season, his 2023 World Baseball Classic, and beyond. Fletcher weaves in the history of two-way players—including Babe Ruth and unsung Negro Leagues players like “Bullet” Joe Rogan, Martin 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, \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e breaks down the physics of Ohtani’s game, his technologically advanced training, his international fame, and the role his role leading baseball into a new era.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shohei is unique, obviously, someone we have never seen before. What he does and how he does it so easily is just different. But such a big part of who he is […is his] pure joy for the game and the competition. […] With all of the success he’s had, he still has that joy. […] That’s Shohei: always competing and having fun doing it.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003efrom the foreword by \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoe Maddon, World Series champion and former Los Angeles Angels Manager \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shohei Ohtani was the biggest story of the 2021 season, and perhaps any season. In \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e,  Jeff Fletcher masterfully chronicles not only what Ohtani accomplished  in ‘21, but also provides the full context to his achievements. From  Ohtani’s origin story in Japan to his recruitment by the Angels, his  injury-marred 2019 and ‘20 seasons to his place in history next to Babe  Ruth, Fletcher’s book is the definitive look at Ohtani’s two-way  majesty.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eKen Rosenthal, Senior Writer at \u003ci\u003eThe Athletic \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“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.”  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eBuster Olney, \u003ci\u003eESPN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shohei Ohtani is a singular phenomenon in baseball, and there’s nobody better to tell his story than Jeff Fletcher. \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e  is the essential portrait of baseball’s most captivating player,  chronicling Ohtani’s rise from child prodigy in the snowy Iwate  Prefecture to two-way MVP sensation under the bright lights of Major  League Baseball. Fletcher goes beyond the carefully scripted press  conferences, revealing in vivid detail the challenges and triumphs of a  baseball journey like no other.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eTyler Kepner, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“OK,  I’ll admit it. I’m obsessed with Shohei Ohtani. I missed out on  watching that Babe Ruth guy, but I feel lucky to have watched this guy. I  even thought I knew a lot about him until I opened my copy of Jeff  Fletcher’s brilliant new book. \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e  taught me so much I didn’t know about the most unique baseball player  of our lifetimes. From the moment I read that phrase, ‘10-tool player,’ I  was hooked!” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eJayson Stark, \u003ci\u003eThe Athletic \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This  is one the best baseball books ever published relevant to Japan-U.S.  relations. Jeff Fletcher is the most experienced of the Angels beat  writers, and usually the first one to ask Shohei Ohtani questions after  the game. I admire the way he has exchanged information with Japanese  writers for four years. This book is the fruit of his efforts. I always  follow Jeff’s work in order to find new information relevant to Ohtani  or Major League Baseball.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eHideki Okuda, \u003ci\u003eSports Nippon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I  thought I knew everything about Shohei Ohtani because I had seen all of  his games and interviewed him for the first time in Tempe in 2018, but I  didn’t quite know the extent of everything he did to redesign himself  on the physical and mental side until after I read \u003ci\u003eSho-Time\u003c\/i\u003e.  I really appreciated learning about Ohtani’s dedication to be the best,  starting from his days in Japan. I realized how much it took for him to  get to this point, to have the best year in baseball history.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003cb\u003eMark Gubicza, Angels television analyst \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Diversion Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50578290704727,"sku":"9781635769234","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781635769234.jpg?v=1746098685","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/sho-time-the-inside-story-of-shohei-ohtani-and-the-greatest-baseball-season-ever-played-9781635769234","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}