Whenever people enter a completely new environment — moving to a new city, changing schools, starting a new job, or joining a new company — they naturally feel both excitement and anxiety.

Questions arise:

“Will I fit in?”
“Will I get along with everyone?”
“Can I succeed here?”

Shohei Ohtani was no different.

Throughout his life, he had already experienced joining new organizations, first with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and later with the Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani is the type of person who becomes excited by the idea of how much he can grow in a new environment.

But joining the Los Angeles Dodgers was different.

After becoming a free agent, Ohtani signed a then-record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract.

The expectations surrounding him were enormous.

Unlike the Angels, the Dodgers were a franchise expected to win nearly 100 games every year — a team where winning was considered the standard, not the goal.

The pressure was immense.

Yet when Ohtani was asked what mattered most to him during spring training, his answer was surprisingly simple:

“Getting used to the environment.”

And he acted exactly according to those words.

Rather than waiting for people to approach him, Ohtani proactively greeted coaches, staff members, and teammates himself.

He actively communicated with everyone around him.

As a result, the distance between Ohtani and his teammates quickly disappeared, and throughout the season he looked genuinely happy playing baseball every day.

Even after becoming the most famous player in the world, Ohtani entered a new clubhouse with the mindset of a rookie.

That humility — treating himself as if he were still in his “first year” — became one of the foundations of a historic season filled with record-breaking achievements.

Source

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

Number 1105, p.31