Shohei Ohtanis maniacal mindset pushes the MLB superstar beyond boundaries

Kuyashii.There isn’t an English equivalent to this Japanese word, which covers a wide range of emotions related to frustration.You can feel kuyashii because you failed.Or because you gave your best and it wasn’t enough.

Or because you didn’t give your best.Or because you were upset by what someone said.

Or because you were humiliated.Whatever the source of the anguish, ultimately you feel kuyashii because you can’t accept what happened.In a television special by NHK that was aired in Japan last month, Shohei Ohtani reflected on his pitching performance against the Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series.Only four days removed from his previous start, Ohtani looked gassed.He barely escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.

In the third, disaster struck, as he served up a three-run home run to Bo Bichette.The Dodgers were down, 3-0.

With only one out in the inning, Ohtani was replaced by Justin Wrobleski.Slipping into the past tense, Ohtani said to NHK of the home run by Bichette: “Kuyashikatta.”Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sensed what Ohtani was feeling when he removed the ball from his hand on the Rogers Centre mound.“There was a lot of frustration,” Roberts said, “maybe some anger.”Before leaving his home country in late 2017, Ohtani staged a news conference in Tokyo.There, he clearly articulated his goal for his upcoming MLB adventure.“As long as you’re playing baseball,” Ohtani said, “I think it’s natural to want to be the No.

1 player.”That designation has belonged to him for the last five years, a period in which he has won four MVP awards.His move to the Dodgers two years ago helped him fill the most significant gap in his resume.

The Dodgers recovered from his 2 ⅓-inning start in Game 7 and went on to beat the Blue Jays, making him a back-to-back World Series champion.But what makes a four-time MVP is an ability to discover new forms of inspiration, and Roberts thinks Ohtani’s memories of his final start wi...