City News

In the book Sho-Time by Jeff Fletcher, explains the great career Shohei Ohtani has had in the Major Leagues so far. This book describes what it was like to grow up in Japan playing baseball. It shows how Ohtani made it to the big leagues in Japan and why he wanted to come to America to play baseball. During Shohei’s first couple weeks in Spring Training which takes place in Arizona, he wasn’t playing that well. Even though he did hit a homerun, that was one of his only hits for the first couple weeks of baseball in America. There was something Shohei Ohtani could do that nobody else could. Shohei could hit and pitch. He was an amazing pitcher that could throw 100 miles per hour. Just like hitting, Ohtani did not do his best while pitching. He gave up a ton of homeruns but many people were saying that he needs time. Shohei still needs to adjust to American baseball because there is a major difference from Japan baseball. The pitchers in America threw much harder than the Japanese pitchers, making it tough for Shohei to hit. Shohei eventually came around and made history with his 2021 season winning the Most Valuable Player award. Although Shohei got off to a rough start in America, he worked hard and never gave up which led him to eventually win the MVP award. 

I recommend this book to everybody who likes baseball as much as I do. This book really describes in detail the life of young Shohei while living in Japan, what his parents did and what his childhood was like. It also describes what it was like for Shohei to come to America and all the adjustments he needed to make. When Shohei first came to America the book describes that he was rumored to visit multiple teams in America before he picked the Angles. Everybody including the media was shocked that Ohtani came to the Angels instead of a team with history like the Yankees or the Red Sox, even the Dodgers but Ohtani chose the Angels. One of the reasons he chose them was because of how it was the closest to his home in Japan, and also he said he fell in love with the stadium. 

I give this book a 8 out of 10. I really like the detail about this book and how it showed the adjustments and struggles Shohei went through. It also showed the struggle of Shohei leaving Japan and missing his family. The only reason I give this book an 8 out of 10 instead of a 10 out of 10 is because at points during this book, it got a little boring. Sometimes during the book it got a little slow and boring and talked too ,I h about confusing stats that Shohei had that didn’t really make sense. Other than that, this book was really good and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Shohei or baseball in general. 

Check out Sho-time at the Newport Beach Public Library!