Most people hesitate to attempt something no one has ever done before because of the fear of failure and the weight of criticism. If success were guaranteed from the start, anyone would take on the challenge — but that would no longer be a true challenge. A real challenge exists precisely because the outcome is uncertain.

When Shohei Ohtani decided to pursue a two-way career, very few people in the baseball world supported the idea. Many labeled it reckless. Critics warned that unless he focused on either pitching or hitting, his rare talent would be wasted. Those voices inevitably reached Ohtani.

Yet he later stated clearly that his feelings never wavered.

Part of that steadiness came from his personality — he does not overly concern himself with outside noise. But the deeper reason was this: even if the experiment failed, he believed it would still benefit him.

Ohtani loved both pitching and hitting. He possessed elite talent in each, and both were highly evaluated. If it had been obvious which path was better, the Fighters would never have proposed the two-way plan in the first place.

He chose the challenge because he genuinely wanted to try both.
And because no one had done it before, there was always the possibility of failure. But striving to fully develop both talents was, in his mind, a meaningful step forward as a baseball player.

For Ohtani, even failure carried value — as long as it led to growth.

Source

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

Opening a Path, Crossing the Ocean: The True Story of Shohei Ohtani, p.219