(Note: I use AI to help me translate my stories from Japanese to English.)
Isao Harimoto holds the record for the most career hits in Japanese baseball, and Sadaharu Oh holds the record for the most career home runs in Japanese baseball. Contrary to what you might think, both of them were actually very cautious and fearful.
Harimoto said he often couldn’t fall asleep because he worried that he might not be able to get any more hits. When that happened, he would get up, practice, and then go back to bed.
“There are very few cases of athletes who are bold, carefree, and overconfident achieving great success. In fact, it’s the timid, sensitive, and nervous ones who tend to succeed. Bold people often have the talent and ability to do things easily, so they feel secure, thinking, ‘That’s easy, I can do it anytime,’ and they tend to become complacent. But people like us, who are timid and fearful, practice every day because of our anxiety. I believe that constant effort is what ultimately made us strong,” Harimoto said.
Oh said that he was afraid he might not be able to keep hitting home runs. “The fear of not being able to hit anymore is always there. The more someone has achieved results, the more they must have battled with anxiety. Anyone who doesn’t feel fear isn’t the real thing. It’s precisely because I want to overcome that fear that I practice,” Oh said.
In both cases, their fear drove them to practice harder, and that’s what made them great hitters.