TOKYO: Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani on Friday posted the first picture of his new wife, who was quickly identified online as a former basketball player named Mamiko Tanaka.

The 29-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star had until now kept his wife’s identity firmly under wraps, two weeks after his surprise marriage announcement.

He had described her only as a Japanese woman he met three to four years ago and his reticence to give more details sparked intense speculation about her identity.

Wheels up to Seoul. pic.twitter.com/NgeQYiwgS2

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 14, 2024

Early Friday, Ohtani posted an Instagram story featuring a picture of the smiling pair flanked by four other people in front of a plane bound for South Korea, where the Dodgers open the MLB season next week.

The Dodgers also posted a photo of the couple on X, formerly Twitter, with a caption describing the woman as “his wife”.

No name was given but fans online were quick to figure out that she was Tanaka, who used to play with Fujitsu Red Wave in the Women’s Japan Basketball League.

Tanaka is 27 and retired last year, according to the team’s website.

“The four years I spent in this team were full of memories both good and painful. But nonetheless, every second of it was a precious, amazing experience,” Tanaka said in a statement upon retirement.

Ohtani, nicknamed “Sho-Time”, has taken Major League Baseball by storm since arriving in 2018 with his almost unheard of combination of elite pitching and hitting prowess earning him comparisons to the legendary Babe Ruth.

He signed a $700-million deal in December with the Dodgers, the richest contract in the history of North American sport.

AFP