Before the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday, Shohei Ohtani went viral because of his epic pregame speech for his Japanese teammates. It was undoubtedly effective, as Japan went on to beat Team USA in an instant 3-2 classic.
Of course Ohtani was asked about his speech following their victory, and he didn't hide the fact that his Japanese teammates look up to plenty of players on the Team USA roster. With that said, he knew he needed to give that speech to motivate them and put the whole team in the right mindset. After all, they were not there to be fans and spectators, but rather to be competitors.
“Obviously the US lineup, one to nine, they are all household-name superstars, and all the Japanese guys know them. But I didn’t want the guys to be passive. Show respect but at the same time don’t be passive, stay aggressive, stay confident. And that’s why I gave that speech,” Ohtani shared via an interpreter, per FOX Sports.
2023 WBC MVP Shohei Ohtani sits down to talk about striking out Mike Trout and winning the 2023 World Baseball Classic.@kevinburkhardt | @AROD | @davidortiz pic.twitter.com/aw1qQ2htIP
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 22, 2023
Shohei Ohtani certainly couldn't have delivered his speech any better. For those who missed it, the Los Angeles Angels star told the Japanese squad to “stop admiring” Team USA–featuring Mike Trout, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts and many more–for a day and just focus on competing.
“If you admire them, you can't surpass them. We came here to surpass them, to reach the top. For one day, let's throw away our admiration for them and just think about winning,” Ohtani said.
Clearly, those strong words worked big time for Japan.