Dodgers President Kasten compares Ohtani to Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan

TOKYO — Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten recently took part in a comprehensive U.S.-Japan Foundation symposium at Stanford University entitled “Recalibrating U.S.-Japan Collaboration in a Time of Tumult,” and shared some interesting insights on Japanese players.

“We knew that Japanese pitchers could pitch after Nomo came and others followed him, but we didn’t know that a Japanese position player could hit major league pitching — fastballs, breaking stuff, sliders and stuff — until Ichiro came and showed he could hit better than anyone else in the game,” Kasten stated. “Not only could he play here he showed he was the best in the game. He was the perfect person for his time, much as Jackie Robinson was the perfect person for his time.”