{"id":597567,"date":"2021-07-20T08:20:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T12:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=597567"},"modified":"2021-07-20T08:21:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T12:21:02","slug":"shohei-ohtani-donates-money-from-home-run-derby-to-angels-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shohei-ohtani-donates-money-from-home-run-derby-to-angels-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani Donates Money From Home Run Derby To Angels Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fshohei-ohtani-donates-money-from-home-run-derby-to-angels-staff%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=597567&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1329419768.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>What\u2019s not to love about Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani?&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He\u2019s the modern day Babe Ruth \u2014 leading the major leagues in home runs (34) and has a 3.49 era on the mound \u2014 and does so with a big smile on his face.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a sport that lacks any semblance of an ability to market its stars \u2014 looking at you Rob Manfred \u2014 Ohtani has found a way to become the face of baseball.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Last week, Ohtani became the first <\/span><span>player in Major League Baseball history to be selected to the All-Star Game as both a hitter and a pitcher. He got the start on the mound for the American League and batted leadoff in the 2021 All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ohtani also participated in the Home Run Derby, though he failed to advance past the first round of the competition. And while his inability to win the Derby was a disappointment, he quickly showed Major League Baseball why they should be proud to have Ohtani as the face of the game.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ohtani received $150,000 for his participation in the Derby, and quietly went about distributing the money to dozens of Angels\u2019 support staff members.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2021\/07\/16\/shohei-ohtani-donates-home-run-derby-winnings-to-angels-support-staff\/\">The Orange County Register<\/a><\/span><span>, <\/span><span>\u201cOhtani received $150,000 for participating in the Derby, but he distributed that to around 30 Angels support staffers to thank them for their work, sources said.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Angels star reportedly handed out the checks before last Friday\u2019s game against the Seattle Mariners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If you were looking for a reason to watch the second half of MLB\u2019s season, you\u2019ve found it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Maybe Ohtani\u2019s generosity will change some minds.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Last week, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN got himself in hot water after saying that Ohtani\u2019s stardom was \u201charming the game\u201d due to his need of an interpreter.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe fact that you got a foreign player that doesn\u2019t speak English, that needs an interpreter \u2014 believe it or not \u2014 I think contributes to harming the game to some degree, when that\u2019s your box office appeal,\u201d Smith <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/angels\/2021\/07\/12\/stephen-a-smith-shohei-ohtani-dude-needs-interpreter\/7939597002\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cIt needs to be somebody like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, those guys. And unfortunately at this moment in time, that\u2019s not the case.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ohtani is from Japan, and while he is not fluent, he can speak English. He also speaks Spanish.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhen you talk about an audience gravitating to the tube, or to the ballpark, to actually watch you, I don\u2019t think it helps that the No. 1 face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he\u2019s saying, in this country,\u201d Smith <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/espns-stephen-a-smith-apologizes-after-saying-shohei-ohtanis-need-for-an-interpreter-is-harming-the-game\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to say.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smith apologized \u2014 profusely \u2014 for his words, but his point had already been made.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe reality of the situation is that you have Asians and Asian Americans out there that obviously were very very offended for what I had to say yesterday,\u201d Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/clueless-espns-stephen-a-smith-spends-day-apologizing-after-racially-insensitive-rant-about-shohei-ohtani\">said<\/a> on \u201cFirst Take.\u201d \u201cAnd I just want to look into the camera and extend my apologies. That was not my intent at all.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We understand what Smith was <\/span><i><span>trying<\/span><\/i><span> to say, he just said it in the worst way possible. Baseball has been searching for a star to market since the steroid era. They\u2019ve tried with Trout and Harper, and the league is no better off than when they first entered the league.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ohtani is baseball\u2019s hope. A likable star that\u2019s doing something not seen since the \u201cThe Great Bambino\u201d who also takes care of the people around him? There\u2019s nothing not to like.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s not to love about Los Angeles Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani?\u00a0He\u2019s the modern day Babe Ruth \u2014 leading the major leagues in home runs (34) and has a 3.49 era &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-597567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}