Seattle Mariners fans used the All-Star Game to up their recruitment of Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
During the first inning of Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic, the crowd at T-Mobile Park could be heard chanting “Come to Seattle” as Ohtani, 29, stood at the plate for his first at-bat for the American League.
Fox’s play-by-play announcer, Joe Davis, used the moment to have a bit of fun with the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, who were mic’d up during Ohtani’s turn at the plate, which ended in a strikeout.
“They’re chanting ‘Come to Seattle,’” Davis said to the pair. “Do you guys want to start your own chant to Shohei?”
“That would be tampering,” Freeman replied. “I’m not doing any of that…I’m gonna go with all 30 teams would want Shohei on their team.”
After he exited the game, going 0-for-1 with a walk, Ohtani addressed the chants with reporters.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that, but I definitely heard it,” Ohtani said, according to MLB.com. “I was just trying to focus on my at-bat and the game.”
The Los Angeles Angels two-way star will be a free agent this offseason and has a chance to sign the biggest deal in baseball history.
During the original Ohtani sweepstakes during the 2017 offseason, the Mariners at one point were considered “clear-cut front-runners” to land the Japanese superstar, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
In a Monday news conference ahead of the Home Run Derby, Ohtani spoke highly of the Emerald City.
“I’ve actually spent about two offseasons in Seattle, a total of four months maybe,” Ohtani said, according to the Seattle Times. “And I felt like it’s a very nice city. I really liked it.”
The Angels are expected to try to retain Ohtani, while the Dodgers and Giants also likely will be in the mix, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.
The Mets, Padres, Yankees and others have been rumored to be in the running for Ohtani as well.
Ohtani, who is the front-runner to win the American League MVP, has long been vocal about wanting to play for a winning team.
The Angels are 45-46 and five games out of the third American League wild-card spot.
Ohtani is hitting .302 with a league-leading 32 homers and 71 RBIs.
On the mound, he is 7-4 with 132 strikeouts and a 3.32 ERA in 100 ⅓ innings.