Being a baseball writer is not all glory

TOKYO — It’s not easy being a baseball reporter. You have to go to the park every day for pre-game practice, sit through a three-hour game, followed by a post-game press conference, and then write your report when its all over. Many reporters also have Twitter and Facebook feeds to do as well as other online postings. It’s a long, long day, often lasting from 1 p.m. to midnight or beyond and then you have to wake up and do it all over again.

If you have to cover an individual like say Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles then it’s especially difficult because you are expected to say something about him every day, whether he gets a hit or not. Also, in interviews, Ohtani is not the most forthcoming individual in the world. He’s a very nice guy but just about everything he says is bland. Moreover, his social life is not very interesting because he doesn’t want anything to interfere with his routine — including members of the opposite sex. He is like a warrior monk in that regard.