The funny reason Shohei Ohtani wears jersey number 17

Billy Heyen

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The funny reason Shohei Ohtani wears jersey number 17 image

One of the most underrated things about Shohei Ohtani is his comedic timing.

Stories trickle out of his clubhouses about how he knows just when to land a joke or play a prank.

So sure, he's an all-time legend, a two-way superstar for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But he's funny, too.

He proved that right away when he came to MLB with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and had to pick out his jersey number.

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Why does Shohei Ohtani wear jersey number 17?

There are a couple of reasons Ohtani wears 17.

He wore 11 for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, but that number was retired for Jim Fregosi with the Angels, so he needed something else. That's when Ohtani decided to be funny in his opening press conference.

He told reporters, through a translator: "I wanted to wear 27, but someone else was wearing that number."

That someone else? Mike Trout.

It's not clear if Ohtani genuinely wanted 27 or just wanted to take a dig at Trout. But he ended up at 17, keeping that second digit as a 7.

When Ohtani moved to the Dodgers, he kept the uniform number that had served him well with the Angels. It came at a cost, though.

Joe Kelly, who sported No. 17 for the Dodgers before Ohtani arrived in Los Angeles, surrendered the jersey number he wore for three seasons. In exchange, Ohtani gifted Kelly's wife a brand new Porsche.

"I wasn't going to give it up to just anybody," Kelly said. "If Shohei keeps performing, he'll be a future Hall of Famer and I'll be able to have my number retired.

"That's the closest I'll get to the Hall of Fame."

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Contributing Writer