In the business world, there is a common saying: “Look at things with a blank slate.” Experience and knowledge are valuable, but they can also become preconceptions that limit how we see new possibilities. When people decide in advance that something is impossible, they often make it so—blocking both action and imagination.

Shohei Ohtani came to understand this through his own experience. During high school, he set a goal that many considered unrealistic at the time: throwing a 160 km/h fastball. By refusing to accept the idea that it was impossible, he ultimately achieved it. Looking back, Ohtani reflected that if he himself had believed it was unrealistic, he would never have reached that mark.

This lesson shaped how he later approached the idea of becoming a two-way player in professional baseball. When Ohtani pursued that path, many former players and coaches—especially those with distinguished careers—dismissed it as impossible. Even for an “ace and cleanup hitter,” conventional wisdom held that a player must eventually choose one role.

Ohtani saw those reactions as the product of preconceptions. From his perspective, declaring something impossible before even trying guaranteed failure. Hideki Kuriyama, who supported Ohtani’s challenge, shared the same view: if you decide something is impossible from the start, then everything becomes impossible. The only way to know is to try.

For Ohtani, having two exceptional talents meant both should be developed. Rather than asking whether something was possible or impossible in advance, he believed the answer should be discovered through action. In that sense, his challenge to convention was not reckless—it was a deliberate rejection of the limits imposed by preconception.

Source

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

Baseball Chronicle I: Japan Years 2013–2018, p.47