Despite becoming one of the most famous athletes in the world, Shohei Ohtani actually had very little experience in major international tournaments before the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
As a high school player at Hanamaki Higashi High School, he represented Japan at the IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship.
Later, while playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he also participated in the Premier12 tournament.
However, he withdrew from the fourth WBC because of a right ankle injury and did not participate in the Tokyo Olympics either.
That made the fifth WBC his first truly major international stage.
For Ohtani, wearing the Japanese national uniform had carried special meaning ever since 2009, when, as a second-year junior high school student, he watched Ichiro Suzuki deliver the iconic game-winning hit in the championship game of the second WBC.
From that moment on, representing Japan became one of his greatest dreams.
And for Ohtani, participating alone was never enough.
He wanted to become world champion more than anyone else.
“Ever since I started playing baseball,” he said, “I’ve never aimed for anything other than first place.”
Ohtani had already experienced winning a championship in Japan with the Fighters.
But after moving to the Los Angeles Angels, he endured years without even reaching the postseason, let alone winning a title.
For someone who had always pursued first place above everything else, that frustration only deepened his desire to win the WBC.
Ohtani has never approached baseball simply to compete.
He plays to win.
He pursues two-way greatness not for novelty, but because he believes it gives his team the best chance to reach the top.
The intensity and urgency he displayed throughout the 2023 WBC reflected that relentless mindset.
For Ohtani, second place has never been the destination.
Source
This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.
Testimonies: Behind the Fierce Battles of Samurai Japan at WBC 2023, p.19