It is also appearing increasingly likely that he’ll lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series appearance; it would be fitting for a rollercoaster 2024 campaign to conclude with the face of Major League Baseball (MLB) gleefully lifting the Commissioner’s Trophy aloft.
Put simply, Ohtani is a baseball phenomenon. He is an icon in his baseball-mad homeland of Japan and has become the sport’s biggest star in the USA, doing things no other player can.
Having dominated Japanese baseball for half a decade with the superbly-named Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he made the move to the United States in 2018 as a 23-year-old and joined the Los Angeles Angels. The history of Japanese stars making the switch to MLB is a mixed bag, to say the least. For every Ichiro Suzuki or Hideki Matsui-shaped success story, there are plenty of highly touted prospects who flame out.
And the challenge facing Ohtani was even greater, as he tried to make it as a two-way player – a hitter and a pitcher. For context, there are currently no other two-way players in MLB and you have to go back to the first half of the 20th century to find anyone doing it particularly successfully. Either pitching or hitting at the major league level is unbelievably hard but to do both...?
And Ohtani didn’t just do both, he immediately excelled.
He won American League (AL) Rookie of the Year honours with the Angels in 2018 and after injury blighted his 2019 and 2020 campaigns somewhat, 2021 saw him ascend to truly elite status and become the best player in baseball. He made history by dominating with bat and ball, being unanimously voted as AL MVP, and The Sporting News ranked his campaign as the greatest season of all time, in any sport.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
The face of baseball making history after betting scandal
Shohei Ohtani’s season began with him mired in a betting scandal for which he bore no fault, has included him achieving something no one else in the 150-year history of professional baseball has, and will likely end with him earning a third MVP (most valuable player) award of his career.
Who has taken pole as US politics enters the F1 world?
Election hopefuls are using the sport to promote campaigns
We can't stand Musk but he astounded us all this week
I have a confession to make: for a brief moment this week, I became a fully paid-up Elon Musk fanboy.
Saka chasing down the most elusive and weirdest record
With seven assists in as many matches to start the Premier League, is the single-season target of 20 within his reach?
MG dismiss dip in demand for EVs as its sales surge
Carmaker MG has insisted that a drop in electric car interest is “short term” as sales of its vehicles surged last year in the UK.
True story of the killer who appeared on a dating show
Netflix film Woman of the Hour’ is based on the life of serial killer Rodney Alcala, a man who was invited on a gameshow for primetime television and won. Words: Annabel Nugent
Greatest sequel of all time?
Once described as having an overstuffed plot’, Back to the Future 2’ is now up there with the second Terminator’ and Godfather’. Geoffrey Macnab goes back to see what changed
Payne drew the short straw in One Direction; now we'll never know the real him
In and out of the boy band, Liam Payne struggled to find a defining identity, writes Mark Beaumont. His life now cut tragically short, the singer is likely to remain elusive forever
Zelensky tells EU and Nato to back his 'victory plan'
Ukraine president pushes for invitation to military alliance
US stealth bombers strike Houthi bunkers in Yemen
US B-2 stealth bombers have been used against the Iran-backed Houthis for the first time in an escalation of Washington’s response to attacks on shipping in the Red Sea that serves as a message to Tehran.