Shohei Ohtani, GOAT

Major league baseball (MLB) was the first sport I followed. That's not surprising, because baseball was by far the dominant sport in the United States in the postwar era. I memorized the statistics of the srars who played before I was born: Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Christy Mathewson, etc.

Then there was Babe Ruth, who hit an astounding 60 home runs in one season for the New York Yankees. Before he was the "Sultan of Swat," Babe Ruth was a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. His numerous records in hitting drew crowds across the country and was enough to put him on the Mt. Rushmore of baseball, but his excellence in pitching made him the greatest player in baseball history.

Until Friday night.

Headline: Shohei Ohtani Just Played What May Be the Greatest Game of All Time

But the things Shohei Ohtani does on the field are so astonishing that they make you wonder if everything you thought you knew about baseball for the last century and a half was wrong. He has redefined what was thought possible in a sport that appeared to have no more secrets.

Ohtani isn’t just the most talented player on the planet. He is likely the most talented player in history. And on Friday, Shohei Ohtani delivered the performance that will define him.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series for the second consecutive season because Ohtani carried them there with a box score that defies belief. On the mound, he dominated the Milwaukee Brewers over six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 10. At the plate, he blasted three home runs that traveled a combined 1,342 feet, transforming Dodger Stadium into his own personal launchpad...

“We’re like the Bulls,” [shortstop Mookie] Betts said, “and he’s Michael Jordan.”

After the outing that will forever be known as the “Shohei Ohtani game,” Ohtani himself had little to say. The closest he came to any sort of self-praise was, “This time around, it was my turn to be able to perform.”

But everyone who saw Ohtani on Friday knows the truth: There has never been anybody like Shohei Ohtani. There probably never will be again.

Knowledge (and familiarity) breed contempt. but in rare cases knowledge helps us to appreciate the greatness in front of us. The number of Hall-of-Famers who have called Shohei Ohtani the greatest baseball player in MLB's 149 years continues to grow.