<figure id="attachment_409149" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409149" style="width: 951px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ee2bb854"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/ed0b685b7b29d983e16192f9b6b69a3d.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409149" class="wp-caption-text">Morii was interviewed in the baseball club room at Toho High School. He signed a minor league contract with the Athletics.</figcaption></figure>
<p> It was in mid-January that Shotaro Morii, 18, traveled to the United States with his family and the manager of the baseball team at Toho High School (Kunitachi-shi, Tokyo), where he is enrolled.</p>
<p> A few days later. In the days that followed, Morii took a big step toward realizing his dream. On January 16 (Japan time), the Athletics announced that they had signed Morii to a minor league contract. The contract was worth $1.515 million (about 240 million yen), the highest amount ever paid to a Japanese amateur player.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;ve thought a lot about my future, and I&#8217;ve come to a decision that I&#8217;m ready to make.</span></p>
<p> Morii expressed his joy on Instagram, which he had just opened.</p>
<p> In October of last year, this magazine closely followed Morii, who was aiming to play two sports in the major leagues. We would like to reproduce some of Morii&#8217;s words, including some that have not yet been published, and introduce his &#8220;grand dream&#8221; as he revealed it to us (the following comments are from Morii).</p>
<h2> My reflections have become my blood and flesh.</h2>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Since I started in November of 2009, I have been working on this project for three years. There are eight books in all.</span></p>
<p> Morii showed us his baseball notebooks, handwritten notes exchanged with his mother, Junko, a yoga instructor. Morii says that until junior high school, he had a stooped back, bad posture, and was stocky. Junko felt that Morii was not &#8220;beautiful enough to be an athlete,&#8221; and suggested that he try yoga. In yoga, you don&#8217;t just do a prescribed pose; you have to think about where your body is centered and what kind of movements you need to do in conjunction with your breathing.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Since I started yoga, I have been able to think objectively about my body&#8217;s movements. I can now think objectively about how I should move my bat to increase the distance of the ball, and what kind of arm movement will increase the speed of the ball. In addition to yoga, I exchanged opinions with my mother about what I had practiced that day and what I had noticed in my &#8220;baseball notebook. By putting it in writing, it would stay in my memory. And if you look back at the notebook and practice, your reflections become flesh and blood.</span></p>
<p> Thanks to the yoga practice he did three days a week for 30 minutes to an hour a day and the advice of his mother, Junko, Morii, as a high school student, hit the ball far beyond the 87-meter right field of Toho High School, and his fastball began to exceed 150 km/h. Toho High School is one of the most prestigious schools in Tokyo, with about 10 students accepted into the University of Tokyo every year. He became a frequent media figure as a &#8220;professional athlete with a deviation score of 71.</p>
<p> However, &#8230;&#8230; is not a good place to start.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The contents of his big dream written on a colored paper"></div>
<h2>I sent in a &#8220;No&#8221; letter to the 12 professional baseball teams before the draft meeting in October &#8217;24.</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Before the draft meeting in October of 2012, I submitted a &#8220;No&#8221; to the 12 professional baseball teams. The experience of the local atmosphere strengthened my desire to try out for the majors. I wanted to try out for the Majors. I will probably start out in the minors, but eventually I would like to make it to the big leagues.</span></p>
<p> At the end of the interview, when we asked him to write his aspirations for the majors on a piece of colored paper, he spelled out his big dreams in vigorous handwriting.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Cy Young Award, home run king, World Series champion.</span></p>
<p> Morii said, smiling, &#8220;It&#8217;s a long way to go, but I&#8217;m sure I can make it happen.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I know the road to realization is far and difficult. But I want my goal to be big. I want to try to achieve a dream that no one has ever achieved.</span></p>
<p> Morii, who hopes to gain experience in the minors for a while, and then in three to four years, he would like to play in the majors as a two-way player. 18-year-old Morii&#8217;s great challenge is about to begin. (Some titles in the text are omitted.)</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Second in the nation! Amazing &quot;Angel&#39;s Wings&quot; photo"></div>
<figure id="attachment_409154" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409154" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="439bfebf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/3d200ac3f4a47a1a39e17a86a849d040.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409154" class="wp-caption-text">He was ranked second in the nation for shoulder joint softness in a physical fitness test in which 200 schools participated last spring. The shoulder blades can create the &#8220;angel wings&#8221; as shown in the photo.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_409155" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409155" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4ee1b2af"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/cdb3d50b856290e0b379774270aa9c88.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409155" class="wp-caption-text"> Shoulder joint softness is also an important factor for a top-notch two-sport athlete.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_409161" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409161" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="98ffe7f1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/4f905e949f23788433b9e7f1a2eab082.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409161" class="wp-caption-text"> Three years of &#8220;baseball notebooks&#8221; written in his mother&#8217;s handwriting.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_409165" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409165" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1901342b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/ca2ddec8a986292fd9f63ebd8e47d1dc.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409165" class="wp-caption-text"> A grand dream written on a piece of colored paper</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_409166" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409166" style="width: 2150px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="a5fd9394"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/04d180aeff7787c45809e12f8426fc94.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409166" class="wp-caption-text"> On the wall of the baseball club room, the names of Morii and his classmates are displayed along with many memories. A page from his youth</figcaption></figure>
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 Hiroyuki Komatsu

 Shoutarou Morii, a two-tool pitcher from Toho High School, a school with a 71 deviation score, has signed a minor league contract with the Athletics. He has taken a big step toward his dream of reaching the major leagues. This magazine closely followed Morii in November of last year. We will show you his original photos, including a baseball notebook written in his mother's handwriting.

Baseball notebook&#8221; with his mother is published! Deviation 71, Morii, who signed with the Athletics, told this magazine about his &#8220;grand dream&#8221;.

Baseball notebook” with his mother is published! Deviation 71, Morii, who signed with the Athletics, told this magazine about his “grand dream”.

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