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The story
After the game on the 5th (6th Japan time), Dodgers manager Dave Roberts offered his view that Shohei Ohtani’s “personality changes depending on whether he’s feeling good or bad physically.” On 5ch, the comment sparked mixed reactions — some joked about a “Good Ohtani” and “Bad Ohtani” two-way duality, others defended him with “that’s true of anyone,” while others pointed to his past behavior and took a harsher view, saying “his true colors are just showing.”
<Dodgers vs. Nationals> ◇ 5th (6th Japan time) ◇ Dodger Stadium
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (54) gave his assessment that pitcher Shohei Ohtani (32) has recovered quite well from his current condition.
[Photo] The “angry…” look on Ohtani’s face after being cautioned by manager Roberts
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Your Japanese is worse.
It's not "everyone" — that's exactly why the manager brought it up.
Re: #19
Iniesta was treated like a saint too, but he'd completely lose it whenever things weren't going well in the J.League.
A person's true nature shows precisely when things aren't going well.
Back when he was still in Japan talking about his "I'll show them" challenger spirit in interviews, he had this ambitious look on his face.
His true personality is probably that of a competitive, elite-minded person — and that type exists everywhere.
The media ran a whole campaign about him picking up trash and being considerate to opposing players, remember?
He used to get treated like a bratty kid who teased his senpai.
Wait, isn't that true for literally everyone?
Kurumada (the manga's creator): "…You've only just begun climbing."
Ippei: "…up this endlessly long slope of debt repayment." (a joke riffing on Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's former interpreter, and his gambling debt repayment, framed as Saint Seiya manga dialogue)
The same embezzlement won't work twice on a Saint 🙄
Pegasus Illusion → 4.6 billion yen (a parody of Saint Seiya's iconic special-move names, referencing Ippei Mizuhara's roughly ¥4.6 billion embezzlement)
People make a fuss about it because they treat a mere athlete like some kind of saint.
Because if you write even a slightly negative article, you get banned on the spot — and so does the outlet itself.
There's the opposite pattern too.
When someone whose life had been going well hits a rough patch,
they start understanding other people's pain, become kinder,
and learn to be considerate.
Either way, humans are fundamentally selfish, self-centered creatures.
there's no reason athletes have to be saints,
yet I can never figure out why they get treated like one.
The baseball guys at my school were nothing but troublemakers, in the bad sense.
That goes for sports clubs in general, not just baseball.
They're a bunch of guys with energy to burn
who can't stand not being the center of attention —
of course there's going to be some roughness and selfishness.
Dekopin… (Dekopin is the name of Ohtani's dog)
Wait, what —
weren't things going well with his dog?
This guy's insane.
Even telling him to rest is useless.
I don't think my personality changes… am I just special?
Background and Points of Debate
Manager Roberts’ comment came amid Ohtani’s ongoing return to two-way (pitching and hitting) game action, and appears to mean that his focus and demeanor tend to shift when he’s not feeling well physically. The thread split over whether to read this as “a natural human reaction anyone would have” or as “a backlash against expecting athletes to be saints.” Ohtani’s public image has historically been built on wholesome anecdotes like picking up trash and showing consideration for opposing players, and as a counter-reaction to that, some posts linked this comment to the idea that “the mask has finally slipped.” However, some of these posts were based on unsourced hearsay or references to footage that couldn’t be verified, and it’s worth noting that the original article is simply about Roberts commenting on the degree of Ohtani’s physical recovery. Some also argued that the controversy over his emotional ups and downs says less about Ohtani’s personal character than about the media and public’s tendency to project an overly saintly image onto athletes — a perspective that can’t be gleaned from the original article alone, and is unique to the thread’s discussion.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “Manager Roberts: “Shohei’s personality changes when he’s feeling good vs. bad” — analyzing Ohtani’s condition“.
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