Is Ohtani the best ever ball player? He's leading the majors...

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in several offensive categories...and he pitches lights out too.

I mean Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Mantle, Williams, Mathewson, Bonds, Johnson, Cobb, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Musial, Koufax, Gibson, Marichal, Cabrera, Pujols, Ortiz, Trout...nobody has come close to doing what he's doing, and only Ruth pitched too, early on in his career.

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. He's certainly in the team picture.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

2. The Potential is superhero grade. Next level human physical achievements!

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Underselling Ruth's Pitching A Bit

In his first 4 full seasons as a pitcher with Boston, Ruth was 78-40 with an ERA just a pinch above 2. His Batting average against was only around .210.
Admittedly, his strikeout to walk ratio was poor, but with that low ERA, it obviously didn't hurt him that much.
He pitched 92(!) complete games in those years, too.
Now, Otani may exceed those numbers, but time will tell, as he has only played those same years.
Interestingly, in 1918 & 1919 his batting average against was a hundred points lower than his own batting average! A hundred points.

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4. A hundred points is significant. I'm leaning towards...

Ohtani as I don't recall Ruth pitching and hitting at the same time, same games even. That's unprecedented.

Before Ohtani came along, the consensus among most baseball cognoscenti was that Mays was the most complete, 5-tool player ever whose HR total, still quite high, suffered from playing in SF's Candlestick Park where the stiff wind blew in.

I've been a Mays fan for forever but I'm teetering...

[ProfessorGAC]

5. He Sort Of Did, Only

It wasn't until 1918 that he had over 200 at-bats for a season. That jumped up to well over 300 that year, but in 1919, he was pitching way less.
Unlike Shohei, he was not an every day player as a hitter, until his 5th or 6th season.
But, he was a STAR pitcher while hitting some. But, changed the game as a hitter.
Saw Otani standing next to Trout recently. Man, he's a big dude! Built like Ichiro he ain't!

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6. Oh, I've never seen him next to other players. Didn't know...

he's a big guy. That helps. Look at 6'7" Judge of the Yankees.

And speaking of Trout, what a shame that the Angels have been so poorly run over the years that most people have no idea who he is and that he's been considered the best player in the game for years...there's been no marketing of him like basketball and football stars get marketed.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Agreed!

Trout is spectacularly good, even though he's in a pretty bad slump right now.
But, even with Otani & Trout, and the Angel's are having their best season in Mike's era, they're still 4.5 games out of first!
And, they play A LOT of their games at 10:30/9:30 EDT/CDT, so nobody east of Nebraska gets to watch them.
The Dodgers & Giants are regularly in east coast primetime 9n ESPN & MLBN, but not the Angels.
It's a shame.

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8. It is a shame. You think the Angels can keep Ohtani...

Last edited Tue Jun 20, 2023, 05:02 PM - Edit history (1)

once he's a free agent? I know the Yankees, Dodgers and other teams will come calling.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Depends On Whether He Develops Roots

The Angel's can afford to keep him, so it shouldn't be about money.
If he finds a comfort zone in SoCal, and the Angels make the playoffs, they can probably keep him.
They slump & miss the playoffs, I'm less confident.

[Mr.Bill]

10. Before the designated pitcher rule,

every pitcher hit and pitched in the same game.

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11. True enough. Back in the day, but only a couple of pitchers could...

ever get good wood on the ball. Ohtani is one of the best hitters, and pitchers, in the game now.

Unprecedented.