When Shohei Ohtani joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, manager Hideki Kuriyama imposed a well-known curfew and outing restriction on him.

It wasn’t because Ohtani had broken rules or stayed out overnight without permission. Quite the opposite.

Kuriyama believed Ohtani possessed the potential to become both an ace pitcher and a cleanup hitter — a once-in-a-generation two-way player who could become the best in the world. To protect that potential, he instructed teammates that anyone who wanted to take Ohtani out at night needed his permission.

Naturally, this made it difficult for senior players to casually invite him out.

For most teenagers, such restrictions would feel intrusive. Many would resent the control. Kuriyama himself later joked, “Shohei probably hated me.”

But Ohtani didn’t see it that way.

“Whether I’m restricted or not, I don’t think it changes anything. There’s nothing in particular I want to do anyway.”

The key wasn’t discipline imposed from the outside.

It was that he had no interest in nightlife to begin with.

Even today in Major League Baseball, Ohtani’s routine is largely the same: ballpark, home (or hotel), repeat. Not because someone orders him to live that way — but because baseball has always been his priority.

Restrictions only matter when they conflict with desire.

For Ohtani, there was no conflict.

Source

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

Chasing Shohei Ohtani: A Beat Reporter’s 10-Year Chronicle, p.23