Los Angeles Times

Meet Shohei Ohtani’s surgeon, who fixes sports’ biggest stars and saved his $700-million arm

Neal ElAttrache sits next to the 2020 World Series ring presented to him by the Los Angeles Dodgers, in his office at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers unwrapped their spectacular holiday prize Thursday with the introductory news conference of Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar and two-time American League most valuable player. There was global appeal with the event scheduled for Thursday afternoon because that was Friday morning for the audience in Japan.

Missing from the festivities was Dodgers team physician Neal ElAttrache, who has a full slate of NFL surgeries to perform.

For him, it was a routine Thursday.

“It’s not that I don’t think it’s a monumental day, a great day for the Dodgers and Los Angeles,” ElAttrache told The Times this week. “But there are things I’ve got to do.”

When it comes to Ohtani, ElAttrache

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