Why baseball鈥檚 Ohtani earns awe
It鈥檚 been a challenging year for the residents of Los Angeles. Destructive wildfires and political turmoil over the federal detention of unauthorized migrants have tested Angelenos.
But then there was Shohei Ohtani.
His exceptional performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season has helped the city rediscover joy and community. Perhaps most of all, people see the values of modesty and hard work in this Japanese athlete鈥檚 extraordinary talent in a quintessentially American sport.
Last Friday, Mr. Ohtani 鈥� who is both a top pitcher and batter, like Babe Ruth 鈥� struck out 10 Milwaukee Brewers players over six scoreless innings and hit three soaring home runs. That feat earned him the National League Championship MVP award and put baseball鈥檚 reigning champions into the World Series for the second consecutive year.
Baseball does not have salary caps, and Mr. Ohtani is one of the best-paid players on one of the sport鈥檚 best-resourced teams. Nevertheless, his athletic exploits and self-effacing demeanor send a message that goes beyond eye-popping dollar figures.
Over millennia, great athletes have helped 鈥渞aise ... humanity out of itself, ... by doing something that teaches us again of how free from mortal constraints we can be,鈥� former baseball commissioner and Yale University President A. Bartlett Giamatti said in 1988. Such an individual, he said, 鈥渄eserves all the awe he or she can get.鈥�
Awe has not been in short supply. In a headline, the normally sedate Wall Street Journal described Mr. Ohtani鈥檚 performance as 鈥淲hat May Be the Greatest Game of All Time.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the single best performance in the history of baseball,鈥� his teammate Max Muncy told Fox News, without equivocation.
Mr. Ohtani himself viewed it as a joint effort. 鈥淲e won it as a team,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淭his time around it was my turn to be able to perform.鈥�
For the Dodgers star, it鈥檚 a privilege rather than a personal achievement to deliver in demanding situations. After a game-winning home run earlier this year, he noted through his interpreter, 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually an honor to feel the pressure because that means there鈥檚 a lot of expectations,鈥� which he transforms into a positive impetus.
For Los Angeles, Mr. Ohtani鈥檚 鈥渂rilliance ... feels like a reset button鈥� and a 鈥渞eason to believe in the purity of sports as a uniter,鈥� wrote commentator Erick Galindo in the local media platform L.A. Taco. 鈥淚 hope this beautiful, messy team of Americans 鈥� Black, Brown and White, kids from the Midwest, South, the Caribe, Latin America鈥檚 finest, Japanese phenoms ... can do what it did last year: bring everyone together, at least for a few days.鈥�
