In 2024, Shohei Ohtani achieved one historic milestone after another.

First, he became the fastest player in Major League Baseball history to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season.

Then he went even further, surpassing what many believed impossible:

50 home runs and 50 stolen bases.

He ultimately finished with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases — numbers so extraordinary that many observers wondered whether anyone would ever accomplish such a feat again.

That same season, Ohtani also won his third MVP Award.

By earning MVP honors in both leagues, he became only the second player in MLB history to do so.

At this point, Ohtani’s career is filled with historic records and statistical achievements.

Yet interestingly, from the moment he committed himself to being a two-way player, he was never obsessed with traditional milestones or numbers.

Perhaps he understood that doing both pitching and hitting would make certain classic achievements — such as 2,000 hits or 200 wins, benchmarks often associated with greatness in Japanese baseball — far more difficult to reach.

Instead, he focused on something different.

He once explained it this way:

“I want to become a player who leaves a strong impression. Because I’m doing something nobody else has done, people say all kinds of things. Even so, I want to become a player people will remember.”

In Japan, there is a phrase:

“A player remembered more than recorded.”

It refers to athletes whose statistics may not be overwhelming, but whose presence remains unforgettable to fans.

Years later, however, Ohtani has become something even rarer:

A player who will be remembered both for his records and for the unforgettable impact he left on the game itself.

Source

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

Shohei Ohtani: The Birth of a Two-Way Major Leaguer, p.243