In seventh grade, Shohei Ohtani’s team lost its first game at a national tournament. Years later, he told Number magazine: their pitcher threw better, their cleanup hitter hit better, and he thought, I’m really nothing special. In 2006, his name isn’t on the official roster of a pro team’s junior squad; Number reported he wasn’t selected. As of October 5, 2026, he has four MVP awards. In high school, he threw 160 km/h, and he never won a game at Koshien. At sixteen, he wrote in the middle of a goal sheet: first-round pick, eight teams. Was Japan the one that almost missed him, or was it Ohtani?
Full story: https://youtu.be/SNkMbwYiL4M
SOURCES (Japanese unless noted)
• Number (online 2022-04-13, 2022-07-26, 2025-10-14): https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/852726 / https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/854035 / https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/867739
• NPB official site, 2006 junior tournament: https://npb.jp/junior/2006/roster_e.html / https://npb.jp/junior/2006/result.html
• nippon.com (2021-11-18): https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-topics/g01204/
• Sportiva (2024-08-07, 2026-05-03): https://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/baseball/hs_other/2024/08/07/_150/?page=2 / https://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/baseball/hs_other/2026/05/03/post_52/
• MLB official stats API (English, read 2026-10-05): https://statsapi.mlb.com/api/v1/people/660271?hydrate=awards
Photo: “Dodgers at Nationals (53677191310)” by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0), cropped and modified with text. The thumbnail is shared under the same license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Narration: AI voice (ElevenLabs)
Music: 余白に溶ける夜 (original)
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