“If Only I Had…”: Shohei Ohtani’s Father Reveals How His Biggest Regret Fueled Him to Avoid His Elder Son’s Fate

Shohei Ohtani has grown up to be an MLB superstar. But he came from humble beginnings in Oshu, Iwate. Despite this, he was able to rise to greatness because of the passion for baseball that runs in his family. Ohtani’s father guided him through his youth, teaching him the fundamentals of baseball. Furthermore, it is his father’s regret in how he raised the Los Angeles Angels star’s older brother that allowed him to reach MLB superstardom. 

Toru Ohtani helped his son Shohei, seeing his passion for baseball and the talent he possessed as a youngster. A regret that he had with his elder son made him put his all into helping Shohei achieve his baseball dream. 

Shohei Ohtani received the training that his father could not provide the Angels star’s older brother

Shohei Ohtani has an older brother called Ryuta Ohtani. Ryuta loved baseball just as much as Shohei does but was unable to reach the same heights as his younger brother. Their father Toru blames himself for this and says that because of his work, he was unable to guide Ryuta.

Furthermore, from that point on, he decided that he would give his younger son all the help that he could. In 2017, Toru spoke to The Minaichi and recounted this story from Shohei and Ryuta’s childhood.

According to The Minaichi, “Toru says he had some regrets about the upbringing of his first son. When Ryuta was a young child, Toru was working in a car assembly job with day and night shifts, and while handling his busy job and two other young children, he was not able to spend enough time with him.”

Furthermore, Toru said, “If only I had worked together with him more… I’ve got to give to Shohei what I couldn’t give to his older brother.” 

Read More: Two-Way Star Shohei Ohtani Seemingly Believes His 1st Son Will Carry on His Baseball Legacy

This is what spurred Toru to teach Shohei from a young age and guide him on his path to the MLB. The Angels star has since then been determined to achieve success at the pinnacle of baseball. Interestingly, he set his goals from a young age.

The Two-Way phenom set his MLB goal in high school

Shohei Ohtani has always been resolute in his determination to succeed in MLB. Despite roadblocks and injury issues, he has overcome every obstacle and become a superstar in the League. But it seems that he set his sights on the MLB from a young age.

Ohtani wrote a list of objectives that he wanted to achieve when he was in high school and one of them was to make his Major League debut. It is safe to say that he has gone further than that and become a top star, but only time will reveal what he can achieve in the future.

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What do you think of the story that Toru Ohtani shared about his regrets about his older son’s upbringing? Kindly share your thoughts in the comments below.