At the Seattle All-Star Game, there are three certainties: members of the Astros are booed, members of the Mariners are applauded… and Shohei Ohtani is given a proper welcome.
Since the beginning of the week, whenever Ohtani has been present, he has been received as the star that he is. And even if Seattle is a division rival, it doesn’t matter.
And during the match, we realized that the fans know how to treat him like a king.
During his two at bats, Mariners fans shouted “come to Seattle” to encourage him to sign with the Mariners this winter.
It’s beautiful to see, that.
Obviously, I don’t see the Mariners putting out $600 million to sign the star. That said, in another world, Seattle could have been a great destination for him.
After all, it’s an “Angels-like” team in the American West.
We know that at the time, he wanted to sign for a club that had never had a big Japanese star… which is not exactly the case with the Mariners. #Ichiro
What’s interesting about all of this, then, is how much more than a guy like Ohtani is respected in baseball. No one deserves respect like that.
And that’s quite normal.
If ever Ohtani were to be traded to a team as a loaner to a club that may not have a chance of signing him afterwards, Seattle might make sense.
But don’t hold your breath: it won’t happen.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. misses his friends.
