Catch this: Ohtani donates 60,000 gloves to Japanese schoolchildren

Not all that long ago, Shohei Ohtani was a grade-schooler in his native Japan. Now, with a new generation of Japanese children already looking up to him for his on-field success, Ohtani is giving back to his home country.

The free agent superstar announced Thursday on Instagram that he will be donating youth gloves to every elementary school in Japan -- about 60,000 gloves distributed across 20,000 schools.

“I’m hoping the kids can spend their days happily with a lot of energy through baseball,” Ohtani wrote. “I’ll be looking forward to sharing the field one day with someone that grew up using this glove!”

The gloves Ohtani is donating are made by New Balance, with whom Ohtani has an endorsement deal.

“I would like to send my appreciation to everyone that was involved and helped this project come true,” Ohtani wrote.

A native of Oshu, Japan, Ohtani made his debut for the Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball at age 18 in 2013. He played in NPB for five seasons before signing with the Angels ahead of the 2018 campaign.