Liberal Arts Blog — Shohei Ohtani — “The Japanese Babe Ruth” (Part II)
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is the Joy of Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic: Shohei Ohtani — “The Japanese Babe Ruth” (Part Two)
This is a follow up to my post of May, 19,2018, when Shohei Ohtani was a very promising 23 year old. He has not disappointed. With the 2021 season he would become “the first two-way player in the history of Major League Baseball with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season while also holding at least a share of the major league lead in home runs in fourteen starts. He was also the first player in MLB history to be an All Star as both a pitcher and a hitter, as he was a starter in the 2021 All Star Game in both capacities.” In December of 2021, Sporting News, ranked Ohtani’s 2021 season as the greatest season in any sport ever “topping great seasons by athletes such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretsky, and Lionel Messi.” What do you think? Today, a few more details. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE “OHTANI RULE” changes the sport
1. “On March 22, 2022, Major League Baseball in introduced a new rule that allows for a pitcher in the batting order to remain in the game as a designated hitter after they are pulled from the pitching mound.’
2. “The rule was colloquially dubbed the “Ohtani Rule “ because of Ohtani’s unique prowess as a two-way player.”
3. “The rule will enable Ohtani to remain in the game after he is done pitching at his customary designated hitter spot instead of being switched to a defensive position like the outfield, something that he did seven times in 2021.”
NB: Ohtani is a big guy — 6 foot 4, 209 pounds.
2022 — THE FIRST GRAND SLAM (a homer with bases loaded) OF HIS CAREER
1. “Ohtani recorded two home runs, including a grand slam, on May 9, 2022 against the Tampa Bay Rays, marking the second time of the 2022 season and the eighth time in his career for Ohtani to record a multi-homer game, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the most by a Japanese-born player in MLB history, while also going 3-for-4 and a career-high five RBIs. The grand slam was the first of his professional career, including both NPB and MLB.”
2. “On May 14, 2022 Ohtani hit his 100th career MLB home run, making him the third Japanese-born player with at least 100 homers in the majors, trailing only Hideki Matsui with 175 and Ichiro Suzuki with 117. “
3. “Ohtani also joined Babe Ruth as the only players with at least 100 home runs and at least 250 strikeouts as a pitcher.”
AND THE RECORDS KEEP ON FALLING (photo below with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 2018)
1.“In a two game span from June 21 to June 22, 2022, Ohtani made MLB history by becoming the first player in the American League or National League to have at least eight RBIs in a game and strike out at least 10 batters the next day.”
2. “On July 6, 2022, against the Miami Marlins, Ohtani made MLB history again by becoming the first player since RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to record 10 strikeouts as a pitcher, two RBIs as a batter, and a stolen base all in a single game.”
3. “Ohtani finished his 2022 season 15–9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings. He also hit .273/.356/.519 with 34 homers, 30 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 95 RBIs in 157 games. Among AL pitchers, Ohtani finished the year first in strike outs in nine innings rate (11.87), third in strikeouts (219), fourth in ERA (2.33) and tied for fourth in wins (15), while amongst AL hitters, Ohtani ranked fourth in homers (34), fifth in OPS (.875), fifth in total bases (304), third in intentional walks (14), tied third in extra-base hits (70), fifth in slugging (.519), tied fourth in triples (6), seventh in RBI (95), seventh in walks (72) and tied eighth in runs (90).”
NB: “Ohtani also led the Majors with a home-to-first average time of 4.09 seconds and was the only player in the Majors to tally 6+ triples and 34+ HR in 2022, making him the only player to do so in a second consecutive year).”
Quote of the Month:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” For the last four years of posts organized by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
