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Baseball鈥檚 Shohei Ohtani: Challenging the limits of what鈥檚 possible
David Clark Scott
As the Major League Baseball playoffs begin (Go, Red Sox!), we would be remiss if we didn鈥檛 acknowledge the majesty of a once-in-a-century player.聽
Japan鈥檚 Shohei Ohtani is the . Like Ruth, Mr. Ohtani has challenged the concept of sports specialization and redefined the limits of what鈥檚 humanly possible.聽聽
Mr. Ohtani didn鈥檛 just hit and pitch for an entire season, in 2021 he was an elite starting pitcher and elite batter. He鈥檚 鈥減ulled off ,鈥� wrote Sports Illustrated鈥檚 Tom Verducci.聽
Mr. Ohtani鈥檚 team, the Los Angeles Angels, didn鈥檛 make the playoffs. But he鈥檚 in the running for both the American League鈥檚 Most Valuable Player and the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher. He swings with power and pitches with finesse, and he is among the league鈥檚 fastest base runners.聽
Mr. Ohtani finished third in home runs (46). By the end of August, he had hit the most homers 430 feet or more (15). On the mound, he throws five different pitches, and his fastball gets even faster later in the game. Mr. Ohtani鈥檚 split-finger fastball is the against batters, according to Baseball Savant.聽
Yet, one of baseball鈥檚 top aces, Max Scherzer, says as a pitcher. In August, Mr. Ohtani agreed: 鈥淚鈥檓 getting better each outing, and 鈥�
Baseball fans can鈥檛 wait to see what Mr. Ohtani does next season.
