Shohei Ohtani set very high goals for himself in high school
Shohei Ohtani has drawn comparisons to Babe Ruth for his ability as both a pitcher and a hitter. The Los Angeles Angels announced they will allow him to continue doing both at his introductory press conference in Anaheim on Saturday, though they seemingly removed any potential that he’ll see time in the outfield in 2018.
Regardless, Ohtani is expected to make an immediate impact in Major League Baseball. Those expectations are in part fueled by his undeniable talent, which has shined every time he’s taken the field going back to middle school. It’s also fueled by Ohtani’s own determination to be the best and to make history, which is evident by a crazy list of goals he made for himself in high school.
According to MLB.com and Cut 4 contributor Jessica Kleinschmidt, photos of goals Ohtani wrote out for himself recently appeared on Japanese television. Those goals, when translated, speak to the high standard that Ohtani has set for himself.
The goals go year-by-year, from age 18 to 42. Though he hasn’t reached them all in the desired time frame, the stage is now set for him to accomplish several of them in the coming years. Take a look.
• Age 18: Join an MLB team
• Age 19: Master English and reach AAA
• Age 20: Called up to the Majors, make 1.5 billion JPY (translates to $13 million in US)
• Age 21: Starting rotation, 16 wins
• Age 22: Win the Cy Young Award
• Age 23: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 24: Throw a no-hitter and 25 wins
• Age 25: Throw fastest pitch in the world 175 kph (or 108 mph)
• Age 26: Win the World Series and get married
• Age 27: Member of Japan WBC team & MVP
• Age 28: 1st son is born
• Age 29: Throw 2nd no-hitter
• Age 30: Get most wins by a Japanese pitcher
• Age 31: 1st daughter is born
• Age 32: Win 2nd World Series
• Age 33: 2nd son is born
• Age 34: Win 3rd World Series
• Age 35: Member of Japan WBC team
• Age 36: Break the strikeout record?
• Age 37: 1st son starts baseball
• Age 38: Stats drop, start to think about retirement
• Age 39: Decide to retire at end of next season
• Age 40: Throw no-hitter in my very last game
• Age 41: Return to Japan
• Age 42: Introduce the American system to Japan?
Ohtani has already represented Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He’s officially joined a major-league team, and can probably count on passing on Triple A unless it’s determined he needs more time to adjust in spring training.
Other professional goals, such as throwing a no-hitter and winning a Cy Young award seem attainable too. The only one that seems crazy is throwing a 108 mph pitch, but maybe he’ll surprise us with that one down the line too.
The coolest thing about this list of goals is that Ohtani often focused on things much bigger than himself. Sure, there were plenty centered around his baseball career, but there were also several focused on starting a family and aiming to take baseball to even greater heights in Japan. It seems Ohtani has always been wise and mature beyond his years, with an eye always focused on the bigger picture. Don’t expect that to change now that he’s preparing to live his baseball dream.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
