Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2023 on what was then the largest contract in sports history — a 10-year, $700 million deal.

But for Ohtani, the most important part of joining the Dodgers was not the money.

It was the chance to finally compete in the postseason and win the World Series — something he had been unable to experience during his six years with the Angels.

That goal was also exactly what the Dodgers expected from him.

In both 2021 and 2022, the Dodgers dominated the regular season, winning 106 and 111 games respectively. Yet despite those incredible records, they failed to reach the World Series either year.

For the Dodgers organization, that was considered a major failure.

President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman explained the team’s mindset this way:

“Our goal is to win 11 games in October. This time, we didn’t win even one. So we have to fundamentally reexamine what went wrong and how to improve it moving forward.”

That statement revealed the standard inside the Dodgers organization.

Winning 100 games.

Winning the division.

Reaching the playoffs.

Those things were no longer enough.

For the Dodgers, those were expectations — not accomplishments.

The only result that mattered was becoming world champions.

And that is why they pursued Ohtani.

The Dodgers believed he was the player who could elevate the team from “regular-season powerhouse” to “World Series champion.”

That was the responsibility placed on him.

It was enormous pressure, but Ohtani accepted it directly and without hesitation:

“The only result truly expected of us is winning the World Series.”

Those words reflected more than confidence.

They reflected accountability.

Ohtani understood exactly what kind of organization he had joined. He knew the expectations were higher than anywhere else he had played before. In Los Angeles, individual statistics alone would never be enough.

Only championships mattered.

And rather than avoiding that pressure, Ohtani embraced it.

That mentality perfectly matched the Dodgers themselves — a franchise that refuses to measure success by anything less than winning the final game of the season.

Source

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

SHO-TIME 3.0: Shohei Ohtani’s First World Series Championship in a New Home, p.62