In their recruitment pitch to Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers showed the reigning AL MVP a video six years overdue, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Alden Gonzalez.
The video, recorded in 2017, was of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant making the case for Ohtani to sign with the Dodgers back then.
Bryant, who passed away in a helicopter crash more than three years ago, “filmed the clip as a favour to the team,” Passan reported Friday. “Bryant’s reputation as the ultimate competitor spans all sports, and his message to Ohtani registered the same posthumously in 2023 as it would have then:
“There’s no better place in the world to win than Los Angeles, and there’s no better team in baseball to win with than the Dodgers.”
The video clearly struck a chord with Ohtani.
He called it “one of the highlights of the whole meeting,” in an interview with ESPN through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. He said he “was really surprised to see it. It was a strong and touching message.”
Ohtani and Bryant had never crossed paths, but according to Passan, the two-way star “marvelled at Bryant’s commitment, to his craft, to his sport, to his team.”
The Dodgers have been connected to Ohtani dating all the way back to when the Japanese phenom considered coming straight to MLB out of Hanamaki Higashi High School.
While he decided to play in NPB for five seasons before joining the Los Angeles Angels as a 23-year-old, the Dodgers were one of the finalists for his services when he made the initial leap. However, they never got to make their closing pitch, which they had saved Bryant’s video for.
So in their meeting with Ohtani this time around, they “weren’t leaving anything to chance.”
Passan reported that the now 29-year-old spent three hours with Los Angeles’ upper management at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 1, where they made their presentation, including Bryant’s minute-or-so-long video. This all led to Ohtani signing the largest deal in MLB history, a 10-year, $700-million contract with the Dodgers.