In baseball stories—especially in manga and sports dramas—rivalries are often at the center of the narrative.

A dominant pitcher faces a legendary slugger.
Two stars battle repeatedly across seasons.

These matchups create drama and capture the imagination of fans.

Japanese baseball history is filled with famous rivalries.
For example, Shigeo Nagashima vs. Minoru Murayama, or Hideo Nomo vs. Kazuhiro Kiyohara.

In Nomo’s case, his devastating forkball overwhelmed many hitters, even in Major League Baseball. Yet when facing Kiyohara, he often chose to challenge him with fastballs. Their direct confrontations became known as one of the most memorable rivalries of the Heisei era.

But Shohei Ohtani has never viewed baseball through the lens of rivalries.

Even during his time with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he rarely approached games thinking about defeating a particular opponent.

His reasoning was simple.

Players come and go.
Teams change.
New generations arrive.

The opponents you face today may not even be in the league ten or twenty years later.

For Ohtani, focusing too much on specific rivals misses the essence of the sport.

What matters more is confronting the challenges within himself.

Improving his mechanics.
Refining his pitches.
Developing his swing.

If he throws the perfect pitch, it should not be hit.
If his technique improves, there should be no pitch he cannot handle.

In that sense, Ohtani’s true rival is not another player.

It is his own potential.

And perhaps, as some might say, the only real opponent is the game of baseball itself.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese magazine and is not currently available in English.

Number Magazine 881, p.19