MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 26, 2021

Shohei Ohtani

Robert Manfred

Minute Maid Park

Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award Presentation

STEPHEN NELSON: Good evening, everyone. I'm Stephen Nelson from MLB Network. I want to welcome you all to the 2021 World Series. It's great to see a lot of faces in person. Hope you all made it here without issue.

2021 has been a special year, I think, for Major League Baseball. We got to see the return of fans in all 30 Major League ballparks, which was a welcome sight, and so many incredible performances on the field.

I think we can all agree the game is in great hands with the many young stars we have ready to take care of the sport and also the veterans, I don't want to sell the Adam Wainwrights of the world short.

We also had the first ever Lou Gehrig Day, the MLB at Field of Dreams, which was the single most watched MLB regular season game since 1998. So many things to be proud of and be happy about if you're a baseball fan.

But I think I speak for the vast majority of baseball lovers when saying that the most outstanding thing, memory we will have from 2021 was an individual performance that this game has never seen before, and to be honest, may never see again. That belongs to this man, Shohei Ohtani.

(Applause.)

Round of applause, please.

So without further ado, the tenth commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred.

ROBERT MANFRED JR.: Those of us that are privileged to work in the game or cover this sport understand how much talent it takes to be a Major League player, a position player, a pitcher. Every once in a while, you see a player who was so talented that at some point in his career, they had the luxury of deciding, do I want to be a pitcher, or do I want to be a position player.

It's really extraordinary to find a human being who can perform at the highest level in Major League Baseball as both a pitcher and a position player. It takes courage and fortitude not to make the choice that players traditionally make, and it takes tremendous endurance to do both over the course of what is a grueling 162-game schedule.

In 2021, that extraordinary person came to us, and it was Shohei Ohtani. In '21, he put on an amazing performance for our fans here in the United States, in Japan, and really all around the world. I can't tell you the number of people who just tuned in to see every at-bat that you had over the course of the season or the extra attention that was paid to every single start that you made.

I know that it will be a very long time until there is a repeat of something that happened for the first time in the 88-year history of the All-Star Game, that is, that a player was selected both as a pitcher and a position player, and then the field manager selected him to start the game as the pitcher. It's really an unbelievable set of accomplishments.

Over the next few years, I know that there are going to be many, many awards and accolades that come your way, but I felt that 2021 was so special that it was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about 2021.

So for the first time since I've been commissioner, I'm very pleased to award the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award to Shohei Ohtani.

(Applause.)

STEPHEN NELSON: With that, some words from Shohei.

SHOHEI OHTANI: First off, thank you for making time for me to accept this special award. It's a huge honor. It's an unbelievable award. I'm really happy about it.

I just want to thank the fans, thank everyone with MLB and everybody with the Angels. I wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone's support. So thank you very much.

STEPHEN NELSON: With that, I'd like to open it up for any questions that we may have for our special guest.

Q. How did this come together, and where did this idea come from for you?

ROBERT MANFRED JR.: I think it really started at the All-Star Game. The recognition that we were seeing something that had never happened in nearly 90 years, and then just as the season progressed and the excitement surrounding the achievements, the performance of Mr. Ohtani, we came to the conclusion as a group, really my whole senior management team, that it would be a mistake for us not to do something just to recognize this one season while we had the opportunity to do it.

Q. For Shohei, what was your reaction -- I know you don't -- the personal awards only matter so much, but to have one that's created for you, just what this means to you.

SHOHEI OHTANI: This award is not given out every year, so I know how special it is. I'm not fully sure if I really deserve it, but since Mr. Manfred's going to give it to me, I'm going to accept it.

ROBERT MANFRED JR.: He deserves it. He does deserve it. I'm pretty sure about that.

Q. Shohei, after this kind of season, making all those starts, all of those at-bats, how are you feeling physically?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I didn't really feel tired or exhausted. I wasn't really doing much for two weeks, but I was dying to get going with my workouts and throwing programs. So now that's about to start, so I'm excited.

Q. Shohei, you obviously had full seasons doing both roles in Japan. It was the first time you did it in the Major Leagues. Is there anything you took from that, having gone through a full season for the first time, and what you'll apply to next year?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I think the biggest thing I could take from this season was that I was able to finish the season without getting hurt or being on the IL. So this experience is definitely going to help me out going forward.

Q. How confident are you just coming off this season that you can keep doing this at this level? Are you confident that you could hold up doing this season after season?

SHOHEI OHTANI: At this point, I'm not really worried about anything going forward. I feel pretty confident that I could repeat what I did this year. I just need to get out there and play every day and leave the numbers, put up good numbers, and I think I'll be able to at least have a similar season as this year.

Q. Rob, how important was what Shohei did this year just for the league as a whole and its product?

ROBERT MANFRED JR.: I think it was a huge timing benefit for us. Obviously, we had a very extensive effort directed at the internationalization of the game, things like London, that was truncated by the pandemic. And to have an international star like Shohei emerge this year was kind of perfect timing for us because it helped us continue to grow the game internationally, which is one of our foremost goals. So the timing of it was perfect for us.

Q. Shohei, what you did this year, so many people looked at as this is what they should have done years ago? A lot of kids watching want to be a pitcher, hitter, and everything else. What would your advice be moving forward for those kids that are looking to do what you did?

SHOHEI OHTANI: I just think I want to tell the kids to love the sport and have passion for it. I played at the Little League game this year, and I met some of the Little League kids, and I really felt their passion and love for the sport.

As long as they can keep that love and passion for the game, it will take them a long ways.

STEPHEN NELSON: Congratulations to Shohei Ohtani.