<figure id="attachment_409983" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-409983" style="width: 2012px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3d04a649"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/9c3c0da200c92b4703ae40246d591184.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-409983" class="wp-caption-text">In a radio program broadcast on January 2, &#8217;15, he said, &#8220;Speed is my forte, and I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s impossible for me to reach 175 km&#8221; (January 9 and 16, &#8217;15 issue).</figcaption></figure>
<p> What did &#8220;FRIDAY&#8221; report 10, 20, or 30 years ago? Playback Friday&#8221; takes a look back at the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we look back 10 years ago at the January 9 and 16, 2003, issue of FRIDAY, with the wide feature <span class="strongInContent">&#8220;2015: Keep Challenging,</span> 11 People Who Will Change Nippon <span class="strongInContent">!</span> 　 <span class="strongInContent">Nippon no Changen wo Changen 11 Jinin (11 People Who Will Change Nippon),&#8221; we</span> introduce &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Nippon Ham&#8217;s Shohei Otani (20): Double-Double, Double-Digit Wins and Home Runs for Second Straight Year, 15 Wins and 20 Home Runs!</span> from &#8220;The 11 People Who Will Change Nippon.</p>
<p> This is a wide-ranging feature that picks up 11 people in various fields who are expected to make even greater strides in 2003. Otani, who became the first Japanese to hit a double-double (double-digit wins and home runs) in his second year of professional baseball in 2002, was featured along with Koizumi Shinjiro, Abe Hifumi, and film director Yamazaki Takashi. (Descriptions in parentheses are taken from past articles.)</p>
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<h3><span class="strongInContent"> Not content with &#8220;first Japanese double two</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Shohei Otani continues to train quietly at the practice field in Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture. While many of his fellow players are chatting and laughing with each other, Otani is not hanging out with them.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In &#8217;14, he became the first Japanese player to hit a double-double (double-digit wins and home runs), but he is not satisfied with it. He said, &#8220;It&#8217;s meaningless to have a double-double for only one year. I can get more wins and homers. My goals are 15 wins and 20 home runs (11 wins, 4 losses, and 10 home runs in 2002). He is also discussing with Manager Hideki Kuriyama how to use Otani next season.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On December 20, Kuriyama unveiled a plan to encourage Otani to take on the challenge.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;I may have him pitch in the middle of the season in zero days.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Ohtani has been on a schedule of two days out and two days rest as a fielder. But next season, he will try pitching on the day after his first appearance as a fielder. That would increase his winning streak even more.</span></p>
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<p> Manager Kuriyama said he had considered using Otani in the field the day after he pitches. At the time, it took Otani 23 at-bats to hit one home run, faster than Hideki Matsui&#8217;s 28 in his second year. Simple calculation shows that the more games he plays in, the more at-bats he will have. If he did so, he probably calculated that his goal of hitting 30 homers, let alone 20, might not be a dream.</p>
<p> Furthermore, Otani had increased his weight from 86 kg when he joined the team to 93 kg through muscle training. In October of the previous year, he had shown a remarkable increase in power, pitching at 162 km/h, which tied the official NPB record at the time. Because of this, Ohtani seemed confident in manager Kuriyama&#8217;s plan.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been on the field all year, and I&#8217;ve found a rhythm for my two-faced style. If he builds up his strength in the off-season, he can play in every game.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Otani, who has always said that he wants to challenge himself to do something that no one has ever done before, will try to achieve an unprecedented result in 2015.</span></p>
<p> In 2015, he was expected to play a more active role in the two-faced game.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" In the &#39;15 season, Ohtani..."></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Shohei&#8217;s true start was in &#8217;15, but&#8230;</span></h3>
<p> In the off-season of 2002, manager Kuriyama said, &#8220;Shohei&#8217;s real start will be in 2003. The manager had also decided that the foundation had been laid for him to play a &#8220;two-faced&#8221; role. In the 2003 season, Ohtani pitched the season opener for the first time. As a pitcher, he won 15 games, had a 2.24 ERA, and a .750 winning percentage, winning the triple crown of most wins, best ERA, and highest winning percentage, as expected.</p>
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<p> On the other hand, his hitting did not improve throughout the year, finishing with a .202 batting average, five home runs, and 17 runs batted in. The reasons for this were reported in various media, but there is no doubt that he hit a major wall in his third year as a professional.</p>
<p> However, perhaps inspired by his poor performance, he achieved his second &#8220;Double 2&#8221; in 2004, batting .322 with 22 home runs and 67 runs batted in, while winning 10 games as a pitcher, and contributing to the team&#8217;s first Japan championship in 10 years. He was the first pitcher and designated hitter in history to win the Pacific League&#8217;s Best Nine awards, and was also named the Pacific League&#8217;s MVP.</p>
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<p> In the off-season of 2005, Ohtani finally won the World Series last year on the Major League stage, which was his long-cherished dream after coming to the United States. He also became the first player in MLB to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, becoming a star player representing the major leagues. He is now such an exceptional player that his every move is reported from across the world. This article is a nostalgic glimpse at the beginning of his &#8220;legendary career.</p>


 Tetsuko TAKEMOTO

 This [Playback] introduces what this magazine was reporting 10, 20, and 30 years ago. This year, Shohei Ohtani achieved an unprecedented "50-50" record in Major League Baseball. Here is a look back at what happened 10 years ago.

Playback ’15] When “Shohei Otani of NIHAM” was aiming for his second consecutive “Double 2” in Kamagaya

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