Someone always wanted something from Shohei Ohtani. An autographed baseball. A special meeting on the field. But often during his time with the Angels, Ohtani could not be bothered. His regimen as a two-way player left him with limited time. His preference was to focus only on baseball.
Virtually every request needed to go through Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo of CAA. Many of them were denied. But was it Ohtani actually balking? Was his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, interceding? Or was it Balelo making the call? The three formed such a united front, such a protective cocoon, the Angels could not always tell.