We got to speak with New Balance Baseball’s product team last summer at Citi Field and, when speaking about the design for Ohtani’s footwear, they put it perfectly:
For many, it’s designing a shoe from the outside in. But for Ohtani, it’s like designing from the inside out.
Shohei’s attention to detail for how the shoe wraps around his foot in every area is apparent – a molded CPU upper is designed for “superior durability through the high wear of pitching’s repeated toe dragging motions,” per the product page. “The sole unit, informed in part by insight from Shohei himself, features a 10-spike configuration designed to be closer to the ground, for a consistent feel anywhere on the field, regardless of position.”
