The Dodgers have introduced plenty of star players over the years, but Thursday’s news conference with Shohei Ohtani resided in another stratosphere.
The others weren’t intentionally scheduled at a time to maximize viewership in a country halfway across the globe. The others didn’t attract hundreds of media members. The others didn’t begin with a countdown for the emcee to start on time for the MLB Network broadcast.
It was as much a TV show as it was a news conference, a Guggenheim Baseball production for the world to consume. If if wasn’t clear already, the message was communicated with the signage surrounding Ohtani on the dais.