Shohei Ohtani Quotes

The mindset behind Shohei Ohtani’s greatness.

Being allowed to do both—pitch and hit—was a groundbreaking idea for me. It wasn’t something I had imagined. I think that made a huge difference.
When I first heard about the two-way idea, it wasn’t that I doubted it, but I did wonder if I might just end up becoming a hitter.
Isn’t it natural to want to show someone who believed in your potential just how much better you’ve become?
As a pitcher, I had too many unfinished things from high school. That’s why I wanted to see it through as a pitcher.
I’m going to a place where great players from every country gather. I don’t want to lose to them.
I wanted to challenge myself, but more than that, I was curious about how good I could become by taking a different development path from everyone else.
I get excited when I go somewhere unfamiliar. It was the same when I entered professional baseball. I remember feeling excited, thinking there must be so many players who are better than me.
At that time, I was already planning to come here to the U.S., so I never imagined going through the process I did.
I want to show how strong Iwate Prefecture really is at Koshien.
Baseball isn’t something you can win alone. Everyone is connected — getting on base, running the bases, each play involves multiple people working together. We can reach the Senbatsu together as a team, and I want to add my strength to that.
I’m happy to get attention, but based on reputation alone, I haven’t actually achieved anything yet.
Even when I gave up hits, my teammates covered for me. I was given the ace number and sent to the mound because they trusted me. That’s why I wanted so badly to hold them down.