When sportswriter Kazumasa Ota was assigned overseas to cover the Los Angeles Angels in 2022, he didn't want the plum assignment. 

That's because he was a former high school baseball teammate and good friend of Shohei Ohtani, who was taking center stage as a two-way superstar for the Angels.

"I hated it," Ota recalled. "That was because I also thought Shohei wouldn't want me there as a reporter."

The 30-year-old had been a sports reporter for Iwate Nippo, a local newspaper published in Iwate Prefecture, until March.

Ota first met Ohtani in 2010.

Impressed by Yusei Kikuchi, 33, a Houston Astros pitcher who also played for the teams he belonged to during his elementary and junior high school years, Ota moved on to Hanamaki-Higashi Senior High School.

Ota and Ohtani became teammates on the school's baseball club.

They were the only first-year students who were given uniform numbers when the team competed at the Iwate prefectural qualifying tournament for the National High School Baseball Championships held in the summer soon after their enrollment.

Infielder Ota was given No. 16, while pitcher and outfielder Ohtani wore No. 17.

They became the core of the team by fall that year and supported each other.

Ota watched Ohtani grow both as a pitcher and as a hitter.

Ohtani had trouble locating pitches until he was in junior high school.

But his pitching skills improved, while his velocity also increased.

Ohtani threw a 160-kph fastball during the semifinal of the Iwate prefectural qualifying tournament in the summer of 2012 when they were third-year students.

He assumed the third spot in the batting order lineup, which is reserved for the best hitter on the team.

After the team lost in the first-round game at the High School Baseball Invitational Tournament held in spring that year, Ota was moved from leadoff to fourth in the lineup.

That was because many of his teammates fell into a slump due to the pressure of having to follow Ohtani in the batting order after he was issued an intentional walk.

Ota felt irritated when he saw Ohtani get intentionally walked.

But he remained calm and stepped up to the plate, thinking that he was who he was and that he was the fourth hitter.

Ota was not envious of Ohtani's talent, while he never viewed the pitcher-slugger as his rival because they played different positions.

It was only natural for Ota to think that Ohtani was a special ballplayer who would make it in the professional ranks. 

Ohtani was selected in the first round by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in fall 2012 to begin his professional career.

While Ohtani played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league for the last time in spring 2017, Ota graduated from Tokai University and joined Iwate Nippo Co.

At first, he landed a sales position. In his job, Ota visited the local daily's sales agents to seek ways to sell more papers.

In 2021, he was transferred to work as a reporter.

Ota was put in charge of covering local politics at the city level for three months before he was reassigned to the daily's sports news section. There, he covered fencing, judo and other sports while learning to write stories.

About a year later, he was assigned overseas to cover the Angels. 

Ota found that Ohtani hadn't changed a bit since high school days, except that he was now wearing an Angels uniform.

The two-way player was in a bad mood when his team lost even though he accounted for eight RBIs that day at the plate.

But Ohtani was in good spirits when the Angels won even though he went zero for four.

That was exactly how he was back in high school.

While Ota was covering the Angels, Ohtani would chat with his former high school teammate when reporters were allowed to enter the locker room.

Ohtani casually told his friend about what he was thinking about in the batter's box, and they even caught up with each other's lives on one occasion.

But their relationship made Ota feel uncomfortable. He worried that other experienced sportswriters might be unhappy to see a newcomer like himself talking in a friendly manner with the superstar on whom all their attention was focused.

Ota never included what he and Ohtani talked about in private into his stories.

Although he was given no direct instructions from his higher-ups, he thought they might have expected him to use his close ties with Ohtani to write stories that no other sportswriters could.

But Ota had one thing he could never compromise on.

"You see, Shohei Ohtani is my friend," he said. "I never want to use him as a business opportunity. I didn't want to sell out my friend to make money."

Ota wrote his articles based on what Ohtani said in a public setting with other reporters.

He also refrained from asking Ohtani questions on such occasions as much as possible because he thought the Angel might find it awkward to take questions from an acquaintance.

Ota is not sure if that was the right thing to do as a journalist, but he has no regrets.

He left Iwate Nippo at the end of March this year.

After moving to Sendai, he works at a tax accountant office to pursue a career that he has been interested in.

When Ohtani turned 30 on July 5 in his first year as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ota sent him a message through the Line app to wish him a happy birthday.

Ota also told him that he had changed jobs.

Ohtani replied in the same manner as when Ota had told him that he had taken a job as a reporter: "I see. OK."

While on business in the United States, Ohtani asked Ota whether he had plans to get married.

Ota had gotten married several months after he had returned to Japan.

His wife is yearning to watch Major League Baseball games in the United States.

Previously, he wasn't enthusiastic about watching Ohtani's games because he covered a lot of them on his beat.

Now that he won't see Ohtani as a reporter again, Ota feels he can genuinely enjoy watching him play in the major leagues as a friend.

"I want to go and see him play while he remains a two-way player," Ota said.