Shohei Ohtani reveals mystery wife's identity in Dodgers Seoul Series post

Shohei Ohtani is the master of the blindside reveal. First, the presence of Dekopin/Decoy the dog during Ohtani's AL MVP acceptance, then his Instagram announcement that he would take his talents to the Dodgers, and then — the day after his Dodgers debut — another Instagram announcement to share that he was married, though he declined to name his wife in the post.

The appropriate reactions to any and all of those bombs range from "what?" to "huh?" The level of secrecy Ohtani has been able to shroud his life in is truly impressive, given that his fame literally spans continents and his free agency was perhaps the most high-profile baseball has ever seen. The man's proclivity for just dropping personal and/or career-altering news at random intervals is pretty astounding.

On Thursday morning, he might've done it again. The Dodgers and Padres are headed to Korea for two scheduled exhibition games and the Seoul Series, and Ohtani posted a picture that included himself, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, translator Ippei Mizuhara, and — most intriguingly — a woman the internet has identified as Mamiko Tanaka, a former professional basketball player in Japan. Although Ohtani hasn't confirmed anything himself, the alt text on a picture posted by the Dodgers' official account referred to her as his wife.

Shohei Ohtani and wife Mamiko Tanaka make first official appearance as Dodgers head to Korea for Seoul Series

Discerning fans identified Tanaka as Ohtani's wife weeks ago and started posting some, uh, rather presumptuous and speculative TikToks about their relationship, one of which included footage of her at Camelback during one of Ohtani's workouts earlier during spring training.

Ohtani described Tanaka as a "normal Japanese woman" during a press conference following his marriage announcement, but she seems like anything but. She played center for the Fujitsu Red Wave, a Japanese women's basketball team, from 2019-2023. Because the internet works incredibly fast, videos of her playing (and making some incredibly impressive three-pointers) have already started to circulate.

We don't know anything else about their relationship, but that's absolutely how Ohtani wants it. He's going to keep sharing information only when he feels like it's absolutely necessary, but he also probably knows that fans will eat up the crumbs immediately.