Shohei Ohtani list of targets from high school

His ledger was broken down year by year, with the Dodgers superstar noting both personal and professional milestones he wanted to achieve at each age. Ohtani's goals first became widespread in late 2017, when the dual phenom announced his decision to move his career from Japan to Major League Baseball.

Now the list is attracting renewed attention as the Dodgers prepare to host the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

The main reason is this goal: Win the World Series and get married.

Win the World Series? To be determined.

Sure, Ohtani had already set this goal at age 26, but everything is falling into place, just a few years behind schedule.

In spring training, Ohtani, then 29, shocked just about everyone when he announced he was married. And now, eight months later, he and the Dodgers are just four wins away from a World Series title.

With Ohtani primed to potentially achieve two major life goals in 2024 — which he had long expected to achieve in the same year — it seemed like a good time to add some of his other high school predictions to reconsider.

Age 18: Join an MLB team
Age 19: Reach Triple-A
Age 20: Make your MLB debut and earn around $13 million

That schedule was somewhat disrupted when Ohtani began his career in Japan, where he burst onto the international stage as a two-way star. But after the 2017 season, he decided to pursue his Major League Baseball dreams. Ohtani immediately became the most sought-after free agent in this class and eventually signed with the Angels on December 9, 2017 at the age of 23. Ohtani never spent a day in the minors, instead making his 2018 MLB debut on Opening Day.

As for the goal of making about $13 million, Ohtani was limited to a $3.5 million signing bonus and a major league minimum of $545,000 in his first season – but he has since that more than made up for it. He signed a one-year, $30 million deal with the Angels to avoid arbitration for the 2023 season … and then signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers last offseason.

Not even Ohtani dreamed big enough to envision a contract with an average annual value of $70 million. It's safe to say that each of the above destinations has been crossed off the list.

Age 21: Make a starting rotation and win 16 games
Age 22: Win the Cy Young Award

Ohtani had no problem cracking the Angels' rotation as a rookie in 2018, although a series of arm injuries over the years had hampered some of his other pitching targets. His only full season without restrictions as a starter came in 2022 – and he almost scored the other two goals.

Ohtani went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA over 28 starts in 2022 – his only season in which he started more than 23 games to that point. The right-hander finished just one win shy of the random 16-win threshold he set for himself, finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young voting. He also finished second in AL MVP voting this season, between winning AL MVP awards in '21 and '23.

Age 23: Member of the Japanese World Baseball Classic team
Age 27: Member of the Japanese WBC team and MVP

Ohtani's first chance to play in the World Baseball Classic would have been in 2021, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this missed opportunity, Ohtani had to make up for lost time when he finally got the chance to play in the WBC in 2023. Not only did he make the list, but he also crossed off his other WBC-related goal by earning the MVP award in dominant fashion.

Ohtani hit .435 with a .606 on-base percentage and an OPS of 1.345. He tied for the tournament lead with 10 hits and led all players with 10 walks. He also had a home run, a stolen base and four doubles – oh, and he dominated on the mound, too. Ohtani went 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 11 strikeouts over 9 2/3 innings while also recording the save in Japan's Classic victory, striking out then-teammate Mike Trout to seal the win sealed.

Ohtani has clearly made significant progress toward his goals, but the best could still be ahead of him – especially if he continues to make the progress he made last year.

The rest of the majors should realize that Ohtani didn't set a goal of just winning one World Series. He planned to win a second ring at age 32, in the 2026 season — and a third World Series title two years later.

High school Ohtani also had his sights set on things like throwing a no-hitter (and then a second a few years later), setting the single-season win record by a Japanese pitcher (18 by Daisuke Matsuzaka) and, finally, a family to establish later in his career. He also wanted to make another World Baseball Classic appearance for Japan, which he could easily do in 2026.

But as optimistic as some of his goals may have seemed, Ohtani was also a realist. He admitted that his numbers would begin to decline at the age of 38, which led him to consider retirement. At 39, he would make the decision to retire at the end of the following season.

But before retiring from MLB and returning to Japan at age 41, Ohtani had one final goal to accomplish: throwing a no-hitter in his final game.

That would be the end of a likely Hall of Fame career, but after the year Ohtani has had, would it be all that surprising to accomplish anything on his list?

That all remains to be seen, but for now the focus is entirely on the goal directly in front of him: