By now, Shohei Ohtani is a global superstar whose every move is covered by media around the world.
However, the moment when intense media attention first truly surrounded him was the summer of 2011 at Koshien, Japan’s national high school baseball tournament.

Despite dealing with injuries, Ohtani recorded a 150 km/h fastball, tying the fastest pitch ever thrown at Koshien by a second-year high school player—matching Masahiro Tanaka’s record.
With Hanamaki Higashi High School already well known due to Yusei Kikuchi’s earlier success, Ohtani quickly became the next highly anticipated power pitcher, drawing national attention.

In January 2012, when Hanamaki Higashi was selected for the Spring Invitational Tournament, the media frenzy intensified dramatically.
According to the coaching staff, as many as 17 media organizations gathered at once—far exceeding even the attention Kikuchi had received.
The coverage became so excessive that practice schedules had to be adjusted just to accommodate interviews.

Throughout it all, Ohtani remained calm and composed.
He responded to interviews without complaint and spoke with striking self-awareness:

“I’m happy to be noticed, but I don’t have any real achievements yet—just expectations. Of course, I’ve trained hard this winter with the goal of becoming the best in Japan, and I’m confident in that preparation. At Koshien, I want to throw a fastball I can truly be satisfied with.”

While excessive praise can easily inflate an athlete’s ego, Ohtani never allowed that to happen.
Even as attention focused almost entirely on him, he consciously spoke about his teammates in interviews, emphasizing that he was just one member of the team.

Ohtani refused to be carried away by hype alone.
For him, recognition meant nothing unless it was backed by real results.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Shohei Ohtani: The Challenge, p.30