Baseball Phenom Shohei Ohtani Sits Down for Exclusive Interview with FOX Sports’ Ben Verlander Airing Tuesday, Oct. 18 on FS1

SEARCHING FOR SHOHEI: AN INTERVIEW SPECIAL, Produced by Religion of Sports for FOX Sports Films, Celebrates Ohtani’s Historic Rise to Baseball Greatness Through Verlander’s Unprecedented Access to Ohtani from a Life-Changing Visit to Japan

LOS ANGELES – FOX Sports’ award-winning baseball personality and star of the podcast FLIPPIN’ BATS, Ben Verlander, sits down with international baseball phenom and Los Angeles Angels pitcher/designated hitter, Shohei Ohtani, for an exclusive all-access interview and in-depth conversation about Ohtani’s unique path to superstardom, the network announced today. SEARCHING FOR SHOHEI: AN INTERVIEW SPECIAL, a 60-minute special feature produced for FOX Sports Films by award-winning sports media company Religion of Sports, premieres Tuesday, Oct. 18, on FS1 following the network’s live MLB Postseason coverage, and will be available across FOX Sports’ digital platforms, including FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports app. 

“FOX Sports Films is excited to showcase Shohei Ohtani’s incredible story and authentically celebrate the impact he’s making on the game of baseball around the world,” said Barry Nugent, Vice President, Development and Original Programming, FOX Sports. “This project is special because it’s the result of a great relationship that’s been built over the years between Ben and Shohei culminating in this one-of-a-kind interview.” 

“Red Sox fan first. Shohei fan forever,” said Gotham Chopra, Religion of Sports’ co-founder. “This is not just a baseball player. This is an icon. Working with Shohei and Ben is everything Religion of Sports is about and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be collaborating with him on this special project.”

Chronicling Ohtani’s upbringing in Japan and continuing through present day as Major League Baseball’s reigning American League MVP, SEARCHING FOR SHOHEI intimately details Ohtani’s origin story and unique path to becoming one of the game’s biggest stars. Throughout the interview, Verlander, in parallel with his one-on-one discussion with Ohtani, shares his own first-hand experience from a 10-day visit to Japan where he takes in the culture and disciplined lifestyle that shaped Ohtani into the player he is today: MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger and former Rookie of the Year. 

“One thing that surprised me from my sit down with Shohei was how he actually never thought being a two-way player at the highest level was even an option,” Verlander reveals. “At 18 years old he thought he was going to be a pitcher – but then the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters came along and pitched him the idea of being a two-way player. Thus, the legend was born.”

Verlander, who joined FOX Sports in 2020 as an MLB analyst for FOXSports.com after five years as a professional baseball player in the Detroit Tigers organization, is currently in his second season as host of the award-winning FLIPPIN’ BATS podcast, where he frequently champions and admires Ohtani’s abilities as a two-way star at baseball’s highest level. FLIPPIN’ BATS features a weekly segment titled This Week in Ohtani News, which incorporates Japanese subtitles into each video and is consistently ranked as the No. 1 baseball podcast in Japan. Since FLIPPIN’ BATS’ debut, Verlander has earned a Cynopsis Media Award as ‘Best Host’ and has been nominated for multiple Hashtag Sports Awards and received Cynopsis Sports Media recognition for the podcast’s live, on-site coverage of the 2021 World Series.  

SEARCHING FOR SHOHEI is executive produced by FOX Sports’ Eric Shanks, Mark Silverman, Barry Nugent, Charlie Dixon and Michael Bucklin alongside Gotham Chopra and Ameeth Sankaran from Religion of Sports and Nick Trotta from Major League Baseball, and is directed by Bradley Jackson, who recently directed the SXSW official selection “Facing Nolan” about the life and career of former MLB pitcher Nolan Ryan. 

FOX Sports Films is dedicated to presenting captivating global longform sports storytelling through an unconventional and entertaining lens. Working with FOX Sports’ league and conference partners, the brand produces original programming, connecting live sports events to sports culture.

Additional clips and highlights from Verlander’s trip can be found on FLIPPIN’ BATS’ social media accounts @FlippinBatsPod, as well as @MLBonFOX social channels, the FOX Sports app and FOXSports.com. 

For more information on FOX Sports programming, visit FOX Sports Press Pass and follow @FOXSportsPR on Twitter.

— FOX SPORTS — 

About FOX Sports

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing FOX Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports’ digital properties include FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Additionally, FOX Sports and social broadcasting platform Caffeine jointly own Caffeine Studios which creates exclusive eSports, sports and live entertainment content. Also included in FOX Sports’ portfolio are FOX’s interests in joint-venture business Big Ten Network, a licensing and commercial relationship with The Stars Group that created the FOX Bet sports betting platform and the FOX Bet Super 6 free-to-play game, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

About Religion of Sports 

Religion of Sports is an award-winning sports media company based in Santa Monica, California, founded in 2017 by Gotham Chopra, Tom Brady, and Michael Strahan with the vision to fundamentally change the format of storytelling in sports through thoughtful, elevated stories that uncover why sports matter to the world. Like religion, sports have the transcendent power to convey important life lessons and values that can shape one’s life. Through high-quality content in scripted and unscripted video, podcasts, feature films, and social media, Religion of Sports distills the spirituality, science and humanity that unites elite performers and people of all kinds. The Religion of Sports team has built an impressive array of work in collaboration with the world’s most elite athletes to share their stories in unique ways, through different styles and emotions, and on a diverse range of content consumption platforms.   

For more information on all of Religion of Sports productions please visit: www.religionofsports.com.