Shohei Ohtani Quotes

The mindset behind Shohei Ohtani’s greatness.

Being a two-way player isn’t something that belongs to me alone.
If I had only been a pitcher or only a hitter, there were clearer goals I could have set, and a future that was easier to imagine. But there wasn’t really anything I could use as a reference. So I had to build it piece by piece myself. For me, that was a good thing.
If I start thinking that someday I’ll have to choose one, before I know it my focus shifts to which one is better. Then it becomes about choosing inside myself.
What I’ve come to realize is that it’s not difficult because I’m doing both. It’s that both are difficult.
Compared to someone who doesn’t do both, there are many things you can only understand from the position of actually doing both.
Mr. Inaba often tells me, ‘You’re boring when you’re pitching.’ He says I look more relaxed — and I smile more — when I’m hitting.
Two-way? It doesn’t really matter to me. You can call it that if you want.
My feelings never wavered about doing both. Even if trying both had turned out to be a failure, I believed it would still become something positive for me.
People say no one has ever done it before. But that’s exactly why I’m doing it — because no one has.
It was heavy for an 18-year-old me.
I’m excited to see how far I can go — not just as a player, but as a person. Right now, I just want to keep working hard and become the kind of player who can create a new path.
How do you fail in America?