A NATIONAL SENSATION ON JAPANESE BALLFIELDS, SHOHEI OHTANI - THE PITCHER AND HITTER - IS HEADED TO LOS ANGELES TO SHOW US WHAT THE HYPE IS ALL ABOUT
There are plenty of questions surrounding Japan’s Shohei Ohtani, who signed with the Angels as a free agent on December 8. Is he a pitcher, a hitter, can he play in the field, can he be an everyday player and simultaneously stick in a rotation? Is he truly The Japanese Babe Ruth?
Tap the break on The Babe comparison. “First of all, we don’t call him Babe Ruth,” Kosuke Sasai, a Japanese manager, told The New York Times. “I never heard anyone calling him Babe Ruth.”
Ruthian nickname or not, Ohtani and a new mania has hit American shores, landing straight in Southern California where he’ll pitch and likely see some at-bats as a DH . From what we’ve seen from the budding 23-year old, 6-foot-5 right-hander, he has the stuff, and then some, to jump from the Nippon Professional Baseball League to the Major Leagues.
Ohtani (his agency clarified that it’s Ohtani, not Otani) the pitcher, the one who starred for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, went 10-4 with a sparkling 1.86 ERA and 0.96 WHIP as the Pacific League’s 2016 MVP. And we should mention that he owns a sinker, a slider, a curve and touches triple digits on the radar gun with regularity. He once rocketed a 102.5-mph pitch, and scouts say he’s top-of-the-rotation-ready.
This story is from the February 2018 edition of Beckett Baseball.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 2018 edition of Beckett Baseball.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Better With Age
At an age when most players have retired are contemplating it, JUSTIN VERLANDER keeps pitching like he’s a kid again
2020 Topps Heritage Coming In February
2020 Topps Heritage Baseball cards bring the brand up to 1971.
Junk Wax Era 1988 Score
The rise in the popularity of baseball cards that would lead up to the Junk Wax Era began as early as the late 1970s, and the introduction of two new manufacturers helped spur further growth in the early 1980s. But the interest in baseball cards would reach a fever pitch by 1988, which would mark the first year since 1981 that a new manufacturer would enter the fold.
2019 Topps Transcendent Baseball
Brings Autographs, Ken Griffey Jr. Vip Event, Big Price Tag
Aaron Judge Hasn't Yet Reached The Heights Of His Ability
Aaron Judge – all 6-foot-7 of him – hasn’t yet reached the heights of his ability
Sports Cards The Gary Vee Way
Gary Vaynerchuk is in the card business. Despite what naysayers and doubters would speculate, he is all-in.
A VIP Bash
SCENES FROM PANINI AMERICA’S VIP PARTY AT THE 2019 NSCC
The New Rookie Home Run
Judge smashes on and off field records.
Tools Of The Trade
The right and wrong way collectors use painters tape
Auction Watch - Aaron Judge
GAME-USED JERSEY UP FOR BID