What if Otani player
I moved to the United States after graduating from high school.
–This is a “story of failure” that may have happened to a certain baseball player.
In the 2012 draft, there was a player who was selected No. 1 by a local team, but turned it down and aimed to play in the MLB. Not only was he on a minor league contract, he struggled with the difference in physical strength compared to Americans, the tight schedule of traveling across a vast continent by bus, and the lack of proper meals. It was extremely difficult for a player who had never played full-time high school baseball, having continued to grow in height until he was 18 and suffering from growing pains, to suddenly compete against American players.
Before coming to the United States, I had hoped to be a two-way pitcher and hitter, but there are many pitchers in the American minor leagues whose long-hitting power is inferior to the powerful players in Central and South America, and whose average ball speed is around 150km/h. Not only was he promoted to the majors, but he was also banned from playing with two weapons, and was left with only one batter.
Moreover, he is not an infielder, so if he were only an outfielder, he would not be able to match the tremendous long-hitting power of Latin American and white players. In the end, his best performance was that he moved up to the 1A minor league, and he was immediately released. Even if they return to their home country, players who refuse to be drafted and enter the major leagues will not be able to immediately return to their local professional baseball game.
Having no choice but to play professional baseball in Taiwan, he joined an independent league in hopes of joining professional baseball in Japan. By the time I finally made it to professional baseball in my home country, it had already been seven years since I graduated from high school, and my baseball career was coming to an end without being able to do much.
As readers who are familiar with baseball may have noticed, this is a simulation of what would have happened if Shohei Ohtani had rejected the Nippon-Ham baseball team in the draft and followed through on his wishes and went from high school to the US Major League Baseball.
The model is Nam Yoon Hee (later changed his name to “Nam Yun Sung”), who went to the United States in 2006 after rejecting the No. 1 draft pick of the Doosan Bears from his high school in South Korea, and Nam Yoon Hee, who was also drafted by the KIA Tigers the following year. This is the story of Jung Young-il’s failure as he aimed to enter the major leagues.
There is a good chance that the Otani’s of the world would have ended up like this if they had moved to the United States after graduating from high school. Of course, there are heroes like Chae Shin-soo, a South Korean player who went to the majors after graduating from high school in 2000 and played in 1,652 games and hit 218 home runs, but it took him four years to reach the majors. .
Over the past few years, Japanese people have been excited by Otani’s success in the major leagues and his status as a big star in the United States, and the reputation of Japanese players overseas has also increased. There is no denying that this is the result of Otani’s talent, hard work, and unique personality. However, what I want Niwaka Ohtani fans to know is that when Otani was 18 years old, he was aiming to enter the major leagues right out of high school. That’s also because of his use of “dual throwing and hitting,” which is not even seen in the major leagues.
