The mystery surrounding the identity of Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani‘s new wife has finally been solved.
After weeks of speculation, the 29-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and designated hitter took to Instagram with a photo of himself and his mystery partner for the first time.
We now know, two weeks after their surprise wedding, that Ohtani’s bride is former basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.
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In the photo, Ohtani and Tanaka, 27, can be seen posing in front of an airplane as the team travels to South Korea for the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Tour.
It was in February that Ohtani surprised his 7.7 million Instagram followers with a marriage announcement, simply writing: “I wanted everyone to know I am now married.”
At the time, he described his new bride as someone “who is very special to me” but did not reveal her identity.
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”Two people (plus one dog), we’ll grow together,” he said.
One day after the Instagram announcement, he said at a press conference: “She is Japanese. I don’t think I need to announce the date we got married. She is a typical, ordinary person.”
”When I’m with her, I have fun. So I’m able to envision a future with her,” he added, noting there wasn’t a “particular reason” they decided to get married.
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He also noted that the then-unknown Tanaka has “absolutely no influence on [his] decision” of where to play.
”She said she will go wherever I go. So my decision was based on where I want to play baseball,” he said at the press conference.
In 2023, Ohtani made history with a record-breaking 10-year $US700 million (approx. $1.06 billion) contract signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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His signature made him one of the world’s highest-earning athletes.
The fact that he is equally skilled in batting and pitching, a rarity in a game where players usually specialise in one area, has seen comparisons between Ohtani and American baseball legend Babe Ruth drawn over the years.
Tanaka, meanwhile, played for four seasons for the Fujitsu Red Wave in Women’s Japanese Basketball League. She retired last year.