By the 2016 season, Shohei Ohtani’s two-way experiment in Japan had reached its full form.

In his fourth professional season with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he achieved remarkable success on both sides of the game. As a pitcher, he recorded 10 wins. As a hitter, he hit 22 home runs.

That same year, Ohtani accomplished something no player had ever done before: he was selected for the Best Nine awards as both a pitcher and a designated hitter.

His performance helped lead the Fighters to a Japan Series championship, and he was named the Pacific League MVP.

Looking back on the season, Ohtani said that the path he had taken since his rookie year—pursuing the rare challenge of being both a pitcher and a hitter—had not been a mistake.

That winter, he renewed his contract for 270 million yen, and the Fighters organization began openly acknowledging the possibility of his future move to Major League Baseball.

At the same time, another opportunity was approaching.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic.

In a conversation with fellow Japanese star Seiya Suzuki, Ohtani mentioned Clayton Kershaw—who would later become his teammate with the Los Angeles Dodgers—and said that rather than simply pitching against him, he would love to face him at the plate.

Yet when asked about the pressure of competing on the world stage, Ohtani responded with striking honesty.

“I can imagine it,” he said.

“But I don’t truly understand it yet.”

At the time, becoming the best in the world was a goal he deeply desired—but it was still something he had not personally experienced.

For Ohtani, imagination could take him part of the way.

True understanding, however, could only come through experience.

Source

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

Following Shohei Ohtani: A Beat Reporter’s 10-Year Chronicle, p.117