Dylan Hernández: Shohei Ohtani shows no hint of scandal distracting him in his Dodgers home debut

Ohtani complimented the fans of his new team, which gave him a standing ovation as he stepped into the batter’s box for his first at-bat.

“When you’re the opponent they’re scary,” Ohtani said, “but when you’re on their side, they make you feel very reassured.”

He accepted responsibility for making an out on the bases when he tried to stretch a double into a triple as Mookie Betts was stopped at third base by coach Dino Ebel.

Ohtani even cracked a couple of jokes. He chuckled when he pointed out that with Betts and Freddie Freeman homering, he was the only one of the Big Three to not homer. He said with a laugh of the blue carpet in the center field that players walked down in the pregame ceremony, “I thought it was a little long.”

His disposition has remained consistent since the accusations of Mizuahara’s alleged theft were first reported by The Times on the team’s recent visit to South Korea.

On Sunday, before the first game of the Freeway Series, Ohtani visited a group of Angels pitchers who were warming up in right field. As he walked back to the Dodgers’ dugout on the third-base side of the field, he smiled and waved goodbye to his former teammates.

The event was captured by a pack of Japanese photographers and television camera operators.

The next day, after he accused Mizuhara of stealing from him in a news conference, Ohtani played catch in left field. It was the first time he’d thrown the ball since he underwent his second Tommy John surgery in September. Ohtani was encouraged by how he felt and wanted to move up the start of his throwing program, but the team convinced him to stick with his original timetable and wait another couple of weeks.

Once again, the event was captured by a pack of Japanese photographers and television camera operators.

Ohtani had to know his every move was being recorded, just as it has been for most of his adult life. So maybe he was making an effort to show he was unaffected by the events of the last week. Or maybe he really was unaffected.

Either way, this ability to prevent the scandal from negatively influencing his performance will be critical for both him and the Dodgers. Until certain questions are answered, and answered credibly, this story will follow him.