Shohei Keeps Him Waiting

A 150-game winner's request sits in the queue

Welcome to Warning Track Power, an independent newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.

Dan Haren will have plenty of chances to chase down Ohtani now.

Back in August, Haren sent the letter pictured above — along with a jersey he had purchased — to the home clubhouse at Angel Stadium. His words are genuine, sweet, respectful, and funny. Until he starts listing his credentials, there’s no reason to believe the note wasn’t written by a nine-year-old kid who idolizes the two-way player. That’s no knock on a Pepperdine education. Ohtani has that power; he can turn a three-time All-Star with more than 150 Major League victories into a childlike fan.

This week marks the three-year anniversary of Warning Track Power. Little did I know when I began this endeavor that a regular practice of writing about baseball would help me regain my childlike love of the game. Though they don’t understand why, my kids thank you. They watch baseball with their father and never hear about roster construction or bullpen management. We root together for favorite players, favorite teams, and our favorite colors. We have fun. My wife, Mrs. WTP, definitely thanks you.

I’m reminded of the one poster I had on my closet door in the mid-’80s. In a bedroom full of Orioles pennants, hats, and assorted giveaway items, there stood Don Mattingly. While that era was generally marked by noncompetitive teams in the Bronx and Baltimore, it was still a player in pinstripes. I thought nothing of it. Instead my focus was on the way the l and the y connected at the end of his signature — did he know he omitted one stroke of the pen? — which was replicated on the poster.

I’m grateful to watch the game once again from a similar section.

Haren, who retired after the 2015 season, watches many games these days either from the Diamondbacks clubhouse or from his home. As the team’s pitching strategist, a role he’s held since 2017, he generates advance scouting reports for D-backs hurlers. That job requires the right amount of admiration and respect for the opponent.

“When Ohtani first came over [from Japan], I thought more highly of him as a pitcher than as a hitter,” Haren says. “He wasn’t quite as polished as he is now. He’s one of the best hitters I’ve ever advanced.”

Haren has a collection of about 15-20 jerseys at home. “It has to be a player I really admired,” he shares, listing Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, and Sandy Koufax among those whose autographed jerseys he’s accumulated.

Originally drafted by the Cardinals, Haren was a member of the Angels during Trout’s rookie year. When he sent the Ohtani jersey to Anaheim, there was also one with “27” on the back. Haren confirms that Trout signed and returned that jersey rather quickly. The Ohtani top, however, is unaccounted for.

It wasn’t until Haren and I spoke that I began to consider the inventory that must be — or must have been — in the Angels clubhouse. “I really never thought about it either,” Haren says, “until it didn’t get signed.”

If he weren’t so understanding of the overwhelming volume of requests — Haren says he’s “kind of let it be” — he might begin to feel like an air traveler who hears that his luggage has gone missing after flying cross-country the day before Thanksgiving.

Many opposing players submitted requests when their teams visited Anaheim this year. Haren learned that Ohtani only signed on the final day of a series. Of course, if he was pitching that day, the autograph session was postponed. He estimates that there are thousands of items waiting to be signed. His jersey is in the queue with all the others.

Haren struck out 1,405 more batters during his career than Ohtani has so far. His experience is critical to his job with the big league team. It also gives him a sense of what’s happening behind the scenes. He knows the lay of the land in the Angels clubhouse.

“I would guarantee you that there’s a [storage] room stocked with stuff for him to sign,” he says. At some point, I would guess that the home clubhouse at Dodger Stadium receives a special delivery from Anaheim. With Ohtani now in the NL West, maybe Haren will receive expedited service. Until then, he will game plan ways for D-backs pitchers to attack the $700 million man. The defending National League champs host LA at the end of April.

Thank you for reading along for the past three years. WTP has thrived and grown because of your support. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I hope you are enjoying the holidays with family and friends. Thank you again.

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