There is a saying in sports:

“To become number one, you must experience being number two many times.”

Even the best athletes often fall just short before finally reaching the top.

In 2021, Shohei Ohtani had a historic season.

He recorded 9 wins as a pitcher and hit 46 home runs as a batter—just two short of the home run title.

While many would see this as a painful near-miss, Ohtani viewed it differently.

“I did want to win the home run title.”

He admitted that desire honestly.

But what followed revealed something deeper:

“But if I had, something inside me might have changed—and I wouldn’t want that.”

For Ohtani, success is not always purely positive.

Winning can bring satisfaction—but also the risk of subtle change:

A sense of completion.
A loss of hunger.
A shift in mindset.

That is what he wanted to avoid.

“So maybe it was better that I didn’t, so I can keep pushing forward.”

Instead of dwelling on what he missed, he reframed it as fuel for continued growth.

He chose not comfort—but continuation.

And in the years that followed, he went on to win the home run title.

Not once—but twice.

Source

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

Shohei Ohtani Feature, Number 1040, p.15