<figure id="attachment_400926" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-400926"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a69faed2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/6f18fd18882d0ff07028a3650fbc54c3.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-400926" class="wp-caption-text">This season was a memorable year for Ohtani, as he won the league championship and the World Series. His thick right arm has scars from surgeries in October &#8217;18 and September &#8217;23.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Timing of his return</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;I am sure he will be back to full strength as a two-sport athlete by May of next year.</span></p>
<p>He is a &#8220;shoulder specialist&#8221; who has performed more than 500 surgeries and served as president of the Japanese Society of Shoulder Arthroplasty (comments below are his own).</p>
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<p>Fans around the world turned pale in the second game of the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees. Ohtani injured his left shoulder sliding down the basepaths on a steal to second base. The injury was thought to be a subluxation, but a torn labrum was also found, and the team announced on November 5 that he underwent endoscopic surgery immediately after the series ended.</p>
<p>The team announced on November 5 that he underwent endoscopic surgery immediately after the Series.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It will take three months for the labrum to attach to the bone and gain strength, and about six months for it to be almost completely healed. He will need more time before he can play in games as a pitcher, but I think it was good that he had the surgery immediately after the injury to repair the damage as soon as possible. First-rate players have a high level of recovery. Otani may be able to make a full recovery earlier than expected.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Otani's gymnastics during his days at Nichi-Ham"></div>
<h2>It makes me feel silly practicing.&#8221;</h2>
<p>According to Nakagawa, Otani&#8217;s body has been superhuman since his days with Nippon Ham. Symbolic of this is a move called &#8220;Otani gymnastics. He can bring both elbows out to the front of his body with the backs of his hands resting on his sides.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It is a move that no ordinary athlete can do,&#8221; he said. From the time he joined Nippon Ham, Otani&#8217;s shoulder joint flexibility has been outstanding.&#8217; I have been the team doctor for Nichi-Ham since 1996, and his physical ability is definitely the best among the players I have examined.</span></p>
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<p>Sho Nakata (now of Chunichi), a former colleague of Ohtani&#8217;s at Nichi-Ham, said that Ohtani&#8217;s physical ability and strength &#8220;made me feel like a fool for practicing.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I accompany Otani to Nichi-Ham&#8217;s spring training camp in Okinawa every year, and many players come to see him for medical checkups due to injuries. However, I don&#8217;t recall treating Otani. I just massaged him for about 20 minutes and chatted with him in the trainer&#8217;s room. He has such a strong body that he is not prone to injury. The year he left for the Majors, I received a New Year&#8217;s greeting card from him that said, &#8220;I will do my best in the U.S.&#8221; in his own handwriting. I still watch his games on TV and cheer for him whenever I can.</span></p>
<p>Ohtani was crowned the world&#8217;s top baseball player and received many Major League Baseball awards. With a body that even doctors are astonished by, he will make further legends next season as a two-sport athlete, playing both fielding and pitching.</p>
<figure id="attachment_400925" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1753px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-400925"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7141ad69"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/aeac920b1058e652187683a2b66108a8.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-400925" class="wp-caption-text">An act from this spring&#8217;s training camp. He can throw a ball several kilograms high thanks to the softness of his shoulder joints and the strength of his back muscles.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_400927" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2368px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-400927"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="57bc0738"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/f2c666ada60a05ff11e5720100093d21.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-400927" class="wp-caption-text">Nakagawa answers questions. He has been examining Nichi-Ham players as a team doctor for nearly 30 years. He works at Doai Memorial Hospital in Sumida-ku, Tokyo.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_400924" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1744px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-400924"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5a7e258a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/11/3d24becdc9b684cc41c0f267ef71388b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-400924" class="wp-caption-text">Otani and Nakagawa. Photographed in November 2005. A rare shot of the two just before Otani arrived in the U.S. to join the Majors.</figcaption></figure>
<p>From the December 6, 2024 issue of FRIDAY</p>
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 Masayoshi Katayama (Journalist)

 AP/Afro Courtesy of Nakagawa (4th photo)

 Dr. Teruhiko Nakagawa, an orthopedic surgeon who examined Shohei Otani as a team doctor for Nippon Ham, says that "his physical ability is definitely the best among the players I have examined. Ohtani underwent endoscopic surgery, and the timing of his return is...

 Dr. Teruhiko Nakagawa, former president of the Japanese Shoulder Arthroplasty Society: "His physical ability is definitely No. 1 among the players I have examined.

Nippon Ham Doctor Confirms Ohtani’s Full Two-Way Recovery!

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