Shohei Ohtani was officially introduced as a member of the Los Angeles Angels on December 9, 2017.

At Angel Stadium, nearly 1,000 fans gathered for his introductory press conference, erupting in cheers when Ohtani delivered his self-introduction in English.

At the time, Ohtani was already known in Japan as a two-way star. However, in Major League Baseball, the concept of a player excelling as both a pitcher and a hitter was almost unheard of.

Many fans and analysts questioned whether it was even possible.

During the press conference, a reporter asked him a simple but telling question:

“Which are you more excited about—your first win as a pitcher, or your first home run as a hitter?”

Ohtani’s answer perfectly captured his mindset:

“I’m looking forward to both, and the best scenario would be to do both in the same game.”

While some pitchers in Japan had hitting experience in high school, performing as both an ace pitcher and a middle-of-the-order hitter at the professional level—especially in MLB—was considered nearly impossible.

But Ohtani was completely serious.

And importantly, so were the Angels.

Manager Mike Scioscia made the organization’s stance clear:
“We fully intend to support the two-way approach, without any doubt.”

That belief gave Ohtani the foundation he needed to pursue something the baseball world had never truly seen before.

Source

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

SHO-TIME: Shohei Ohtani and the Man Who Changed 120 Years of MLB History, p.93