Shohei Ohtani, a young Japanese and American star, has been quickly gaining popularity among baseball fans. Ohtani revealed his true feelings about fulfilling his lifelong goal of finally playing in the MLB in a January 2022 GQ interview.
“I felt like my lifelong dream was really starting up.” Shohei said when asked about his move from Japan.
Shohei Ohtani has been playing baseball since he was a child and was introduced to the game by his father. Growing up in a small prefecture in Japan, Ohtani was the youngest of three children. His father taught him how to play and Ohtani began his baseball journey on his school’s team.
Many years from now when you are telling the story of Shohei Ohtani to younger fans, be sure not to forget to mention that he hit a baseball through the Tokyo Dome roof.https://t.co/0aWHwwjSGk
Ohtani picked the Los Angeles Angels team and on his first day of training instead of feeling nervous, he felt liberated and thrilled. For Shohei Ohtani, this was just the beginning of his dreams finally coming true.
When Ichiro Suzuki told Shohei Ohtani to be himself
After shifting to America from Japan, Ohtani was feeling out of place in this new country and had trouble adjusting. That’s when Ichiro Suzuki invited him to dinner and gave him some life advice:
“Remember to be yourself. You made it this far being yourself, so don’t change that, stay within yourself.”
Suzuki asked Ohtani not to change and to be true to himself, as being himself is what got him to where he is today.
