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ESPN Staff Writer- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES -- For six years, the video remained a secret, squirreled away for the next time. In 2017, during their failed courtship of Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers held onto the minute-or-so-long clip as part of their closing pitch, one they never got to give. Two weeks ago, the next time arrived, and the Dodgers weren't leaving anything to chance.
For more than a decade they had chased Ohtani, flattered him, pined for him, only to be denied. In 2012, they wanted him to be the first elite Japanese high schooler to skip Nippon Professional Baseball and sign with an MLB organization. At the last minute, he declined. Five years later, a 23-year-old, Ohtani arrived in the major leagues with the temerity to think he could hit and pitch and do both full time. As much as the Dodgers tried to build their team around him -- he could play the outfield and pitch every sixth day -- the National League did not have a full-time designated hitter. Ohtani believed DHing was a necessity for his body to withstand the rigors of what he was going to attempt. No matter how compelling the Dodgers' presentation, how ideal the fit, it wouldn't happen. He signed with the Los Angeles Angels, just 30 miles down the road. He didn't play a single postseason game in his six years there.
This time was different. Every team has a DH. And the Dodgers offered so much more, from the 10 division titles in 11 seasons, to the farm system that churned out major leaguers on the regular, to the robust analytical group that dispenses wisdom to players. Plus, of course, the video -- which, in the grand scheme, wasn't a whole lot, taking up a fraction of the three hours Ohtani spent with the team's upper management at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 1. But in that sliver of time, on the screen for Ohtani was a figure long associated with Los Angeles sports excellence making the case for him to sign with the Dodgers.
Kobe Bryant.
