The Sho Hey Kid

Shohei Ohtani took up baseball in his second year of elementary school. His Dad, Toru, regretted working too hard to make his presence known in Shohei’s older brother Ryuta’s experiences as an athlete. So he made sure to be there, coaching, as Shohei started to find his way on the ball fields.

Shohei is the youngest of three siblings. He had both Ryuta and sister Yuka to admire. Yuka played volleyball. Their Mom played badminton — and dominated the whole lot of ‘em.

Toru taught Shohei how to pitch and hit — and to keep en even temperament, to not let frustrations from the game of failure linger beyond the moments in which they occurred. Rather, learn from them, and see to it that you use mistakes as steppingstones to success.

Toru kept a notebook, and he and Shohei would discuss situations, what to repeat and tweak, what to flush.

“His advice was basic, but has stuck with me,” Shohei told People. “They’re things I’ve heard at every stage. Like hustling. It’s important to do, but the attitude with which you approach it is also meaningful.”

Slammin’ Slender Shohei

Shohei was drawn to baseball because of a hardball game he’d seen. Soon enough, his Mom and Dad, Kayoko and Toru, introduced Shohei to a respected prospective coach.

“He and his parents came to this field to see me,” Shoji Asari recalled. 

Asari looked at Shohei, who was skinny, and wanted to test the kid, see just how motivated he might be to really give baseball his best efforts.

Did I mention this was for Little League?

“He might like to join his school’s softball team with the rest of his friends,” Asari wondered aloud.

Picture Shohei giving a Stewie Griffin “what did you just say” look.

Shohei, 8 years old at the time, looked Asari in the eyes and said: “I want to play hardball with this team.” 

It was game on for the most perception-defying, future best-we’ve-ever-seen player in the history of baseball.

An important note about Asari, according to journalist Nobuya Kobayashi: “Coach Asari let his players grow freely. So Ohtani continued to enjoy baseball the whole time.”

Drains, Planes & Octo Unreal

Hiroshi Sasaki, Shohei’s coach at Hanamaki Higashi High, had an interesting way of keeping players humble.

They cleaned toilets. In there, it didn’t matter who was No. 1 or No. 2. It mattered that there was no sign of either.

Shohei Ohtani, when you get right down to it, was very unlikely to stink.

He was preparing all along for a night like Friday in the National League Championship Series. No. 1, he struck out 10 Brewers. No. 2, he earned the win, sending the Dodgers to their second consecutive World Series.

No. 3, he hit three home runs in the game. But you already knew that.

The real bottom line in the Shohei Ohtani flight plan to better-than-ever land? His family was present. His coaches cared. And not a single one of them takes credit for Shohei’s ascent.

In fact, Asari, the Little League coach, advised against hitting and pitching as the Sho Hey Kid considered both in his teens.

“It’s up to the kids, but really, it’s impossible,” Asari said. “Even in America, only Babe Ruth could do it. You’d better not do it. You can get injured.”

Oh, yeah?

“He made it big, all due to his own efforts, Asari said. “We had nothing to do with it.”

@bleacherreport

Ohtani put up one of the greatest performances ever 🔥 #mlb #baseball #shoheiohtani #dodgers #mlbtiktok

Finders, Capers 

T.J. Capers is from Miami. A senior, he made the amazing interception, somehow keeping the nose of the ball off the ground, to clinch visiting Louisville’s huge victory over the second-ranked Hurricanes on Friday night.

In high school, in addition to playing football, T.J. played varsity basketball and was on the track team.

The Miami Columbus football team went 14-1 his senior year and won the 4M state title.

The 247 Sports scouting report on T.J. coming out of high school said: “Will need to keep progressing, but has some of the required traits to be a multi-year starter at the Power Five level. NFL upside.”

He’s also this now: A Louisville legend.

@chirpy_chick29

Down Goes #2 @Louisville Football beats @Miami Hurricanes #uoset #tjcapers #playiftheseason #louisvillewins 24-21

Strutter at the Pearly Gates

Ace Frehley, founding guitarist for the rock band, KISS, passed away on Thursday in Morristown, NJ. He grew up Paul Daniel Frehley, becoming Ace because of his popularity.

But his childhood wasn’t easy. Born in New York City, Ace enjoyed playing football. But an injury was part of the reason he got a little lost along the way. He even got lured into the gang scene.

Music saved him. In 1964, at age 13, Ace’s parents gave him an electric guitar for Christmas. Ten years later, he and his makeup-macho bandmates released KISS, the debut album.

Play the first track, Strutter, and you can picture his spirit’s entry to the great beyond. Rest in rhythm, Ace.

As Ace, who was 74, sang not long ago: “Who needs tomorrow?”

Curt So Good

Curt Cignetti, 64, coach of the Indiana Hoosiers is our Got Dub recipient. He won the week for beating Oregon, for staying in Bloomington, but more, for saying the following:

“I’ve never been into” recruiting stars. … The evaluation is extremely important. You find the guy who’s got the right stuff, good habits, and wants to be great — you develop them.”

coachdancasey

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Athletes, and parents of athletes, that’s how it happens. What is it? It, in the Cignetti example, is one coach taking a basketball school and making it a national championship contender in football because he and the program require the right stuff.

Coach Cignetti’s new contract is an eight-year deal for $93 million. His why, I guarantee you, is about more than money.

Instant Grit? 

We close this week with the one trait all high achievers have in common, as explained in a conversation between Mel Robbins and Dr. Angela Duckworth.

The trait: Grit. It’s true. (Sorry, not sorry). Elaborating on grit, Dr. Duckworth said:

@melrobbins

There is one thing that all high achievers have in common. According to world-renowned psychologist Dr. @Angela Duckworth, it’s not talent... See more

“Passion and perseverance for really long-term goals. Loving something and staying in love with it, not kind of wandering off and doing something else, something else and then something else again.

“But having a kind of a North Star … a devotion over years. That’s the passion part. The perseverance part is, partly, it’s hard work. Partly, it’s practicing what you can’t yet do. And partly, it’s resilience. On the really bad days, you get up again. So, if you marry passion for long-term goals with perseverance for long-term goals, then you have this quality that I find the common denominator of elite achievers in every field that I’ve studied.”

Best of all, grit is something almost anybody can get.

“… How gritty we are is very much a function of what we know, who we’re around and the places we go.”

Seek sunlight, choose great company, be wherever’s best.

Or, two words:

Goat Big!