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The Lifetime of Shohei Ohtani

Mar 14
4 min read

Updated: Oct 6

By Haseung Hwang ’27



About Shohei Ohtani


One of the greatest baseball players today, Shohei Ohtani has become a superstar and is recognized globally by baseball fans. Born in 1994 in Japan, he began his professional career in the Japanese league, Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). After five seasons, he was posted to Major League Baseball (MLB) and signed with the Los Angeles Angels ahead of the 2018 season. Now, his popularity extends far across the United States as a significant figure in MLB, winning multiple MLB Most Valuable Player awards while hitting dozens of home runs and throwing pitches of over one hundred miles per hour. He has led the Los Angeles Dodgers to victory in the 2024 and 2025 World Series championships and the Japanese national baseball team to the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship. These unprecedented achievements have established Ohtani as one of the most influential baseball players of his generation.


The Big Plan


Ohtani's success can be attributed to his powerful dream and strong self-control. As a high schooler, he once said, "Life doesn’t make dreams. Dreams make life. I will dedicate myself to baseball." Unlike other athletes who simply wish for popularity and fame, he carefully planned his future. As a high school student, he created a “dream sheet,” a chart that looked like a pitching zone which listed the steps he desired to achieve his goals.



At the center of the chart is his ultimate goal. Around this central goal, he organized many smaller goals that would help him to reach it. The two remarkable goals for Ohtani were to be both a batter and a pitcher in MLB who throws 100mph. However, when he announced that he would challenge this goal, a lot of experts and coaches of Japanese professional baseball expressed a negative outlook, telling to not underestimate professional baseball. Although he thought that succeeding as both a pitcher and a hitter in the MLB was realistically impossible, Ohtani believed in himself, and ultimately, he made it. Another reason behind his success as a great baseball player is not only just desire, but also he actually worked so hard while enjoying it. The supposition that he could enjoy the hard training is that Ohtani has only been interested in baseball since he was young, to the extent that one might think he was born for baseball.


Furthermore, one of the other interesting things about Ohtani is that he has never walked the streets of New York because he only goes back and forth between the baseball stadium and his accommodation. We can find through this that he is really focused on only baseball and easing other interruption things. Of course, he does not drink or smoke at all, and he always carries a pillow and mattress with him to ensure he gets 10 hours of sleep every day. The reason he has been able to maintain his life with consistent routine is due to managing his mentality and inner strength. To control these, there is a thing that he never does. According to an article from Japan on April 12, 2022, Ohtani has never once spoken pessimistically about the future. He believes that spoken word trembles own mentality and happens in reality. So, even if people only think positively because negative thoughts hinder goal achievement, it does not necessarily lead to good results. When confidence is excessive or there is an overly strong obsession with winning, it is easy to produce counterproductive results. But he was different, Ohtani has composure to handle it to not influence these mentalistic problems for the game. This indicates how Ohtani has strong inner strength that leads to goal achievements. 



The Team Above Himself


In the 2023 World Baseball Classic round of 8, Japan ended up facing Italy. In the third inning of one out and first base, hitter Ohtani was on the plate. During the WBC, Ohtani’s condition and performance were outstanding, so everyone expected and cheered for him to hit a homerun. But surprisingly, unlike everyone's expectations, he hit a bunt toward third base instead of having a full swing. The result was tremendous. Due to his humble hit, team Japan could earn 4 points in the same inning and win the game. This attitude indicates how Ohtani cares about the team rather than his own performance. To do this, he shows that not only taking care of his own team, but he also shows huge respect toward opponent teams. When he gets hit by an opponent‘s ball, he always responds with a comfortable smile. Also, he always takes off his cap to greet the opposing players, and even calls out the umpire’s name to show respect whenever he steps up to the plate. If he finds a broken bat, he hands it directly to the ball boy in a direction that is easy for him to grab, and cleans up the sunflower seed shells while the players throw them on the ground. These actions are on his dream sheet, and this means that he thinks humility,sportsmanship, and qualities are crucial to become a great major league baseball player. Through these, he has earned his admiration not only as a player but also as a role model in the world. 


Shohei Ohtani is more than just a talented baseball player. His dream, discipline, and respect for the game have allowed him to achieve what many once thought impossible. Through his achievements and character, he continues to inspire fans and athletes around the world. And through watching his great achievement, he gives me a belief that there are no impossible things in the world, if I have earnest things to do and try hard to achieve them.




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