LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani is about to realize his childhood dream of playing in important games. There’s nothing bigger than the Major League Baseball playoffs.
And the Japanese superstar isn’t nervous.
“I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel,” he said Friday through an interpreter.
Ohtani is getting his first chance on the October playoff stage with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who open the National League Division Series on Saturday against the rival San Diego Padres. He spent the last six years with the Los Angeles Angels, who never had a winning record or made the postseason during his tenure.
Ohtani struck out then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to help Japan win the World Baseball Classic last year. He was a pitching and hitting star in Japan before coming to MLB. Now, fans on both sides of the Pacific are clamoring to see what else the record-setting superstar can do in October.
“I think it's more for us as fans to see that it's something that's new to him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “If there's any person that I feel that's going to be able to handle this, it's certainly Shohei.”
Ohtani has proven he can change a game with his bat or his foot speed. If he draws a walk, he can steal a base (he had 59 in the regular season). He can smash home runs (54) or score from first.
“He has shown the ability in this last month to use the whole field, to get a hit if he needs to,” Roberts said. “A crazy talented ball player.”
Ohtani prepared for the best-of-five NLDS by hitting in some simulated games during the Dodgers' five days off — their reward for having baseball's best record at 98-64.
“I'm doing the best I can to make sure that my first at-bat is really good,” he said. “This week we did spend time just to make sure that we were taking care of our body with the accumulation of the season, and I think we were able to get some of the kinks out of the way.”
Ohtani signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers in December. He didn't pitch this season while rehabbing from a second elbow surgery he had a year ago. That allowed him to focus on his offense, and he exploded, becoming baseball's first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season.
Early in the season, Ohtani admits his strong desire to fit in with his new team affected his hitting.
“Overall, the second half of the regular season, if I look back at it, it’s been pretty good overall,” he said. “I’m just focused on remembering those good feelings that I have when I’m playing well. And the plan is to make sure that I do have those feelings going to the plate this postseason.”
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Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani follows the flight of his single off Colorado Rockies pitcher Seth Halvorsen in the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, left, speaks to reporters with his interpreter, Will Ireton, in a press conference in preparation for Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani speaks to reporters in a press conference in preparation for Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani speaks to reporters in a press conference in preparation for Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
BOSTON (AP) — Karen Read is seeking to delay a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of her Boston police officer boyfriend until her criminal trial in connection with his death is done.
The lawsuit filed last month blames the death of John O’Keefe on Read, and also on what it describes as negligence by bars that continued to serve drinks to her despite signs she was drunk. It says the first bar served her seven alcoholic drinks in about 90 minutes the night of Jan. 28, 2022, and that Read carried the last drink into the second bar, where she was served a shot and a mixed alcoholic drink within an hour.
Read's attorneys on Wednesday filed a motion to delay a trial on the lawsuit until after her criminal trial. Read is accused of ramming into John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a January 2022 snowstorm. Her two-month trial ended in July when a judge declared a mistrial, and a second trial is scheduled for Jan. 27.
“A stay is appropriate here, where proceeding with this civil action at the same time as the criminal action will adversely affect Ms. Read's Fifth Amendment rights and her ability to vigorously defense herself from criminal prosecution,” her lawyers wrote in the motion. They added that her requested stay is “minimal and not prejudicial” because the wrongful death lawsuit is not expected to be finished until at least August 2027.
But an attorney for O'Keefe's brother, Paul, and other relatives who filed the lawsuit oppose any delays and suggested the reliance on the Fifth Amendment ignored the fact she has has spoken publicly about her case several times to the media and will be subject of at least one upcoming documentary.
“Ms. Read consistently and voluntarily disregards her Fifth Amendment privilege as she attempts to craft her own narrative and poison the jury pool for both her criminal and civil cases,” Paul O'Keefe's attorney, Marc Diller, wrote. “In light of her open willingness to speak publicly, Ms. Read's current reliance on her Fifth Amendment right to silence appears to be less about avoiding self-incrimination and more about controlling the narrative to suit her interest.”
The lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts by Paul O’Keefe on behalf of his family and his brother’s estate names Read, the Waterfall Bar & Grill and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants. It asks for a jury trial.
On Friday, an attorney from Waterfall Bar & Grill filed a response, denying the allegations.
Read has pleaded not guilty and awaits retrial on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Her two-month criminal trial ended in July when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked. The judge dismissed arguments that jurors later said they had unanimously agreed Read wasn’t guilty on the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
Read has appealed the ruling to the state's highest court. On Friday, the Supreme Judicial Court announced oral arguments would be held Nov. 6 in her bid to dismiss the two charges.
After the bar-hopping, Read — a former adjunct professor at Bentley College — dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, outside the Canton home of another police officer. His body was found in the front yard. An autopsy found O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read’s lawyers argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the home and that those involved chose to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider.”
The lawsuit says Read and O’Keefe had been arguing and that she knew she had hit him with her SUV before returning to his home. It alleges that she woke up his 14-year-old niece several hours later saying that something had happened to O’Keefe and that he might have been hit by her or a snowplow.
FILE - Karen Read waits for her court case to resume at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass., June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool, File)
