New Podcast Doesn't Exist is LIVE

"Is it time to bench Shohei Ohtani" | ep. 63
https://youtu.be/Zvbhy89WJO8?si=pl2rXnnZDwRh6c51

This dude has ACTUAL anime lore

"Winning 253 of the 254 votes for the MVP"

Clearly there's always that ONE guy in every country

I need the whole trilogy. The Angels years. The Dodgers years.

There is a documentary on Shohei called “Beyond the Dream”. In it, they interviewed Kuriyama (Ohtani’s coach back in Japan) and his view on Ohtani. He said he was sure Shohei could be the best pitcher and hitter in Japan. He made it his mission for the two way project to be successful.  At the time, Kuriyama and the manager of Nippon-Ham Fighters gave themselves 5 years to develop Shohei into a superstar ready for MLB and anything but that meant they had failed Shohei. They knew Shohei’s potential and believed in it more than anybody.

Im glad to see grumpy old baseball men are universal and not just american

So unreal to see a guy bet on himself, to do something thats never been done, and actually succeed. He got a chance no player had ever gotten before and took it further then anyone thought was possible.

The NPB arc of Ohtani no Baseball was crazy

Now that I know the origin story, it is even more impressive. Being a kid teenager and going against the whole world is freaking scary. No wonder he is the best ever.

I absolutely love the story about how, during his time with the Nippon Ham Fighters, Ohtani never went out for a drink with his teammates and just focused on training. A coach, unable to bear watching this any longer, advised him, ‘If you don’t get on with your teammates, people will end up disliking you, won’t they?’, but Ohtani replied, ‘I don’t mind if they dislike me; once I become the world’s best player, everyone will like me,’ and carried on training with even greater determination.

And to think, Ohtani was only 20 at the time! Haha

Yo, his Fighters manager is a legend. Ohtani wanted to push the limits, so his manager accepted nothing less than greatness. And look where he is now.

Story script straight out of an anime.

Japanese coach was rage-baiting his best performance out of him

"It was personal to me" -Shohei probably.

The world owes a debt to the Fighters for convincing him to stay and get better as well as giving him the chance to be a two-way player.  Because they were right, if he went straight to the MLB no team would've allowed him to do it.  He wouldn't have been given time to prove he could.  Hell, even with the extra years they were reluctant and doubtful.  But because he got those years, he became the player he is today and we ALL get to enjoy that.

The importance of self belief cannot be understated. Ohtani mental toughness is next level.

Ok, Ohtani's lore is actually insane

Shohei isn't an anime protagonist. He's the guy the anime protagonist looks up to.

Was starting to think baseball existed

The manager sounds great- he comes off harsh, but he seems like he just figured out that ohtani responded well to tough love.  Being that hard on a player is respect