The Transcendent Shohei Ohtani




When Shohei Ohtani chose the Los Angeles Angels, it was like the baseball gods finally gave the ball club's fans a break. Not since the Angels lost out on Mark Teixeira and got the rights to draft Mike Trout as fortune shone on Angel Stadium. 





Drafting Trout was a fluke of the rules.





Shohei Ohtani choosing the Angels was a miracle.





He did it because the club told him he could pitch and be a position player. That ruled out National League teams. Ohtani wanted to be a Dodger. But they weren’t prepared to let him do it. 





In his first season, Shohei Ohtani became the first Major League Baseball player to make 10 starts as a pitcher and hit 20 home runs as a position player since Babe Ruth accomplished the feat in 1919. The Babe was not a two-way baseball player after that. His diet didn’t allow it. Shohei Ohtani was just getting started. 





He has always been a meticulous conditioning zealot. As a youth in his native Japan, Ohtani became relentless and worked out hard. When drafted out of high school, Ohtani set Japan’s Pacific League on fire, and proved his hard work paid off well. 





After he came to the Angels and got selected Rookie of the Year in 2018, Ohtani suffered through two injury plagued seasons. He overhauled his routine in 2021. After adjusting his diet, Ohtani went on a new workout regimen. He consulted with performance-based technology companies. The Angels management relented and let Shohei Ohtani manage his routine and performance.  





It resulted in the greatest two-way performance in baseball history. 





Shohei Ohtani began 2021 by hitting tape measure home runs at an amazing clip. He hit second in the Angels lineup in front of Mike Trout. He hit for power and showed blistering speed. Ohtani is an adept base stealing threat and turned doubles into triples.





Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout could’ve been as dynamic a duo as any have been in Major League Baseball history until Trout got injured with a lower leg injury that caused him to miss the season. 





Ohtani carried on and carried the Angels. At mid-season, he took part in the Home Run Derby and started at pitcher for the American League at the All-Star Game. He’s the first player in Major League history to do that. Oh, and he led the league in triples. 





Even though the Angels had another losing season.,Ohtani won the American League Most Valuable Player award. 





Shohei Otani had arguably the greatest individual season in Major League Baseball history. He hit 46 home runs and 100 runs batted in. Ohtani led the big leagues with 8 triples. With his blazing speed, he stole 26 bases. He scored 103 runs.





While on the bump, he led the Angels with 9 wins. He pitched 130 innings pitched and had an earned run average of 3.18. Ohtani struck out 156 batters. 





Barry Bonds had better offensive seasons and Randy Johnson was more dominant. 





Shohei Ohtani performed the most statistically impressive season in Major League Baseball history. 





And he continues at a torrid pace this season. Shohei Ohtani equaled yet another Ruthian record. He became the only player besides Ruth to record 100 home runs as a hitter and achieve 250 strikeouts as a pitcher. 





If you get a chance, watch the greatest phenomenon in Major League Baseball history. I’m just happy he plays for my long suffering favorite team. If only they can make the playoffs. I may be happy as a baseball fan at least until they do something dumb again. 




Image by: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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