In Japanese baseball culture, generations are often named after their most iconic star.
For example, players of the same age as Daisuke Matsuzaka are known as the “Matsuzaka Generation.”

Today, Shohei Ohtani’s peers would undoubtedly be called the “Ohtani Generation.”
But during their high school years, it might just as easily have been called the “Fujinami Generation.”

In 2012, Osaka Toin High School achieved a historic spring–summer Koshien championship double. At the center of that run was the battery of pitcher Shintaro Fujinami and catcher Tomoya Mori.

Ohtani faced Osaka Toin in the opening game of the Spring Koshien tournament. He hit a home run off Fujinami — but as a pitcher, he was unable to contain them. His team suffered a decisive defeat.

After graduation, Fujinami joined the Hanshin Tigers and won 10 games in his rookie season. Ohtani, in contrast, finished with just three wins.

At that time, Ohtani spoke with humility:

“Last year, I couldn’t compete with him. Fujinami produced results. I’m the one who has to challenge.”

Despite the growing attention around him, Ohtani did not see himself as the benchmark — he saw himself as the challenger.

In 2014, both pitchers won 11 games. In 2015, Ohtani recorded 15 wins, surpassing Fujinami’s 14. Their careers would eventually take very different paths.

But in those early years, Fujinami was someone Ohtani had to measure himself against — a rival who pushed him forward.

Great competitors are often shaped not only by victory, but by the presence of someone they must chase.

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.26