Shohei Ohtani is a focal point of Bill Plunkett's new baseball book.
In his new book, LA Story: Shohei Ohtani, The Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages (Triumph Books, April 2025), veteran baseball reporter Bill Plunkett chronicled the team's mesmerizing 2024 MLB season.
The author, a sportswriter for The Orange County Register since 1999, summed up his hopes for the book in an email.
"Last year was a remarkable season for fans of Ohtani and the Dodgers," Plunkett informed Odds and Evens. "The way I look at it, the book is the ultimate souvenir of the 2024 season. You can pull it off your shelf at any point in the future and relive that season."
Indeed, it was a remarkable season for the 2024 World Series champions. And even before the season began, the Dodgers' successful attempts to sign two-way star Shohei Ohtani and pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto generated massive publicity on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
Plunkett was busy reporting the details every step of the way ― for newspaper and website readers. (The OC Register is one of 11 daily newspapers in the Southern California News Group.) A few months after the season commenced, he also began working on his 256-page book.
It was a rigorous undertaking.
"I started working on the book in mid-June ― obviously not knowing how it would turn out," Plunkett wrote in an email.
He added, "I'm a very organized writer/person so I had a list of chapter topics/ideas and started organizing my notes and interviews based on those. I did interviews whenever possible, then spent any off days I had either transcribing those interviews or writing the early chapters."
Dodgers Reporting Duties and a Book Project
Based on Triumph Books' plan to get LA Story published expeditiously, Plunkett juggled his primary work and his book project at the same time.
"Once the playoffs started, it was impossible to get anything done," Plunkett said of the book. "Hard enough just to keep up with the daily demands of playoff coverage. My deadline was two weeks after the Dodgers' last game ― whenever that would be. As it turned out, I covered the World Series parade two days after getting back from New York ― then the next eight days, I never left the house, spending all my time finishing the book."
It was time well spent. In LA Story, Plunkett displayed authoritative knowledge of the subject, weaving together the storylines of the next chapter of Ohtani's one-of-a-kind career with the Dodgers' perennial pursuit of excellence.
Light-hearted and fun details are sprinkled throughout the book (including about Ohtani's dog Dekopin), humanizing the subject and reminding readers that even if pro baseball is a big-bucks business, it's also entertainment. Players and coaches and managers are personalities, sometimes larger-than-life figures.
What's also unique about Dodgers' history is underscored by the book's foundational structure.
"Has any other franchise been ground zero for not one but two 'Manias' ― Fernandomania and Nomomania?" wrote Plunkett, referring to Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 and Hideo Nomo in 1995, in the introduction.
Illuminating Details Propel the Book
The reader discovers early on that Plunkett has a good sense of what quotes, notes (including statistics) and anecdotes will make this a quality book.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman added the big-picture perspective in the introduction, reacting to the team signing Ohtani to a 10-year contract in December 2023.
"We've got … probably the guy we're going to be talking about to our great-grandchildren," Freeman said. "Just like we talk about Babe Ruth, we're going to talk about Shohei. It's just an exciting time for the Dodgers, for us."
There's also a wealth of background about the Dodgers' lofty appraisal of Ohtani and the team's pursuit of him twice ― before he joined the Los Angeles Angels and again in 2023.
"Meetings with teams were clandestine affairs, with executives escorted in secrecy to make their presentations to Ohtani," Plunkett wrote of the free agent sweepstakes.
The spotlight shined on Ohtani at his introductory news conference with the team at Dodger Stadium, held in the iconic ballpark's Centerfield Plaza in mid-December 2023. An estimated 70 million people watched it on MLB Network.
Although the $700 million USD (¥100 billion JPY) contract was certainly one factor in Ohtani's decision to join the Dodgers, his high-profile appearance on that December day telegraphed his top priority.
"I can't wait to join the Dodgers," Ohtani said. "They share the same passion as me. They have the vision and history all about winning and I can't wait to join the team and get it going."
And, as intelligently discussed on LA Story's pages, with Otani deferring all but $2 million (roughly ¥300 million) of his annual salary, he helped give the Dodgers more capital to sign players. It also exhibited his total commitment to winning.
The Media Frenzy Surrounding Shohei Ohtani
Before Ohtani played his first spring training game for the Dodgers, there was hypercompetition among Japanese media members on the beat. Nothing was too trivial to report. And this extended to Plunkett as he managed the reportorial demands of the long season and crafted LA Story.
Plunkett recounted what he learned during spring training in Arizona in February and March of '24.
"Rule One: if Ohtani does something, it's news," he wrote.
He added, "Rule Two: if Ohtani doesn't do something, that's news too."
On and off the field, Ohtani generated headlines every day. Case in point: He announced his marriage, without identifying his new bride, on Instagram in late February.
And when the Dodgers flew to Seoul for their season-opening series against the San Diego Padres, his new bride accompanied him. The Dodgers capitalized on Ohtani's incredible celebrity to draw countless eyes to their social media accounts. A photo of Ohtani and former pro basketball player Mamiko Tanaka, whom the team identified by name, getting off the plane was posted on the team's official Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
The frenzy surrounding Tanaka being revealed as Ohtani's wife wasn't the big story in Seoul, though.
In an impactful, well-reported section of the book (Chapter 3: "Beyond Shocked"), Plunkett outlined Ohtani's long association with Ippei Mizuhara as his interpreter with the Angels and his friend. News and shifting storylines of Mizuhara's gambling problems broke during the MLB Seoul Series (March 20-21).
During and after the Seoul trip, the truth emerged that Mizuhara had exploited his friendship with Ohtani. The disgraced interpreter had pilfered millions of dollars from the ballplayer's bank account to engage in illegal gambling and pay off escalating debts.
The Dodgers Return from South Korea
After the two Dodgers-Padres games in Seoul, Ohtani and the team's return to the United States, the Japanese superstar took an important step separating himself from the scandal that would eventually land Mizuhara in prison.
Ohtani held a players-only meeting with five teammates and his new interpreter, Will Ireton. The meeting lasted 45 minutes. Ohtani responded to questions from Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Tyler Glasnow and Miguel Rojas about what had happened with Mizuhara.
Two days later, Plunkett wrote, Ohtani delivered his public apology at Dodger Stadium. The team's show of solidarity for Ohtani, a victim of fraud (and a breach of trust), was on display in the media room. Dodgers executives and manager Dave Roberts, along with two of Ohtani's teammates, attended the event.
After Ohtani issued the apology, Roberts said it was case closed for the team.
"I heard everything I needed to hear and I know the players feel the same way," the manager was quoted as saying.
Passages like this one help give the reader a behind-the-scenes tour of the 2024 Dodgers season.
Chapter after chapter, a baseball insider's understanding of an MLB franchise's front-office machinations provides helpful context to navigate the ups and downs of the season. In doing so, Ohtani's agent Nez Balelo, Roberts, LA president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, team president/CEO Stan Kasten, general manager Brandon Gomes and an assortment of coaches and teammates are quoted extensively.
A Joyride for Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers
Above all, the 2024 MLB season was a joyride for Ohtani and the Dodgers. Despite a plethora of injuries, LA had a sensational year, with an MLB-best record of 98-64. LA Story effectively captured the ebb and flow and the highs and lows of the season and Ohtani's long list of thrilling accomplishments.
On May 17, the LA City Council announced that day would be Shohei Ohtani Day every year for the entirety of his tenure with the club. Entering that day, he was first in MLB in batting (.360), slugging percentage (.669) and hits (63) and tied for first in home runs (12). Stolen bases, lots of 'em, would accumulate as the season progressed, too.
After the All-Star break, Ohtani became the third-fastest player to reach the 30-30 milestone in MLB history (111 games), Plunkett wrote. Only Eric Davis (90 games in 1987) and Alex Rodriguez (107 games in '98) did it quicker.
Ohtani had surpassed his career-high total of 26 stolen bases. His offseason conditioning workouts, including running mechanics and acceleration with Dodgers coach Travis Smith, had paid off in a big way.
A 40-homer, 40-steal season certainly seemed possible.
And Ohtani achieved it with a flair for the dramatic. A walk-off grand slam against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 23 gave him 40 homers to go along with his 40 steals.
Weeks later, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have a 50-50 season.
What a game! A 6-for-6 effort with three homers, 10 RBIs and two stolen bases against the Miami Marlins on September 19. And details of the feat ― and reactions to it ― are memorable highlights of the book.
The Dodgers Thrive in the Playoffs
In October, the Dodgers embarked on their 12th consecutive appearance in the playoffs. In Ohtani's first trip to the MLB postseason, Plunkett wrote about LA's triumphs over the Padres and New York Mets in the NL Division Series and the NL Championship Series, respectively.
After crushing a game-tying homer in Game 1 of the NLDS, Ohtani exclaimed "Let's go!" in the direction of the team's dugout. He was fired up to play in the pressure-packed environment of the playoffs.
Near the end of the book, the author emphasized this point, citing a TV interview Ohtani did during the World Series.
What does pressure mean to Ohtani as a professional ballplayer?
"I think of it as more of a blessing than pressure," the 2024 NL MVP said on Fox. "Many fans tell me they come all the way from Japan to see me [play]. I take that as a blessing and want to show them my best."
The related story of Ohtani's rehab from elbow surgery in 2023 and his road to recovery as a pitcher (he returned to the mound in 2025) add additional depth to this compelling book.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
