Ohtani, this dude is unreal

[John]

I think a few top draft picks in hockey have lived up to the hype. McGregor, Crosby, Lemieux in addition to Gretzky over past 50 years. Might be others I'm not thinking of.

Potentially Lindros

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Comparing him to Ruth is a joke. Let me know when Ohtani goes 18-5 pitching against the Yankees lifetime, hits 714 HR’s, has 2214 RBI’s, and finishes his career with a 342 lifetime batting average, during a time when the pitchers mound was 5 inches higher than it is today and the ball was much less lively.

https://athlonsports.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/colin-cowherd-clear-choice-shohei-ohtani-babe-ruth

 

[aburks41]

Adjusted for ballpark, it's a lot closer than Stankee fans think.

Ohtani plays half his games in a hitter's nightmare, Judge can hit pop up HR's to right field.

Both deserve MVP, obviously. There's a good argument Ohtani's season is better, at least for neutral observers.

That’s actually not true. Adjusted for ballpark, Ohtani would only have 46 at Yankee Stadium and Judge would have 58 at Dodger Stadium.

 

[navery12]

That’s actually not true. Adjusted for ballpark, Ohtani would only have 46 at Yankee Stadium and Judge would have 58 at Dodger Stadium.

These charts are stupid because nobody plays 162 games in 1 park

 

[aburks41]

These charts are stupid because nobody plays 162 games in 1 park

I agree with that, but people thinking that Judge is a product of the short porch at Yankee Stadium are factually incorrect

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I agree with that, but people thinking that Judge is a product of the short porch at Yankee Stadium are factually incorrect

Both Judge AND Ohtani have it ten times easier than Ruth did.

 

[Dove]

I think a few top draft picks in hockey have lived up to the hype. McGregor, Crosby, Lemieux in addition to Gretzky over past 50 years. Might be others I'm not thinking of.

Interestingly, Gretzky was never drafted.

 

[superjohn]

Ohatani- homer in the 9th to tie the game. 53/55, 4-5 today at the plate.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Bottom of 9th, Dodgers down 4-5, Ohtani at the plate. Boom! No. 53 at 114 mph, 430ft bomb tied the game at 5-5. Mookie followed with a walking off bomb. Dodgers won 5-4. What a finish!

Shohei went 4-5 with 2 stolen bases. He has caught Judge in the HR department with just 1 back.

53/55. He will get to 55/55 soon enough.

 

[Excalibur]

Comparing him to Ruth is a joke. Let me know when Ohtani goes 18-5 pitching against the Yankees lifetime, hits 714 HR’s, has 2214 RBI’s, and finishes his career with a 342 lifetime batting average, during a time when the pitchers mound was 5 inches higher than it is today and the ball was much less lively.

I’d love to see Ruth hit guys who threw 99 with sliders that break 2 feet and splitters that drop off of a table.

Pitching is orders of magnitude better today than it was 95 years ago.

 

[pepband99]

Comparing him to Ruth is a joke. Let me know when Ohtani goes 18-5 pitching against the Yankees lifetime, hits 714 HR’s, has 2214 RBI’s, and finishes his career with a 342 lifetime batting average, during a time when the pitchers mound was 5 inches higher than it is today and the ball was much less lively.

1) Show me Ruth's numbers doing both. He had some exceptional pitching seasons, and many exceptional hitting seasons, but barely if at all both.
2) Ohtani being awesome makes Mike Dimauro angry, which makes us all happy

 

[Waquoit]

Ruth didn't face all the best players of the era like Ohtani has.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I’d love to see Ruth hit guys who threw 99 with sliders that break 2 feet and splitters that drop off of a table.

Pitching is orders of magnitude better today than it was 95 years ago.

lol…….Bob Feller was regularly throwing 105 mph as an 18 year old in the 1930’s, and I don’t think Ohtani would have a chance against him throwing from a mound that was 5 inches higher than it is today.


Other MLB legends are said to have thrown faster pitches than Chapman's, but with older, less reliable technology, it can be difficult to confirm the speed of a historic pitch. Thus, tales of Nolan Ryan’s 108.1 mph fastball in 1974 or Bob Feller’s 107.6 mph pitch in 1946 remain unofficial.

 

[Excalibur]

lol…….Bob Feller was regularly throwing 105 mph as an 18 year old in the 1930’s, and I don’t think Ohtani would have a chance against him throwing from a mound that was 5 inches higher than it is today.


Other MLB legends are said to have thrown faster pitches than Chapman's, but with older, less reliable technology, it can be difficult to confirm the speed of a historic pitch. Thus, tales of Nolan Ryan’s 108.1 mph fastball in 1974 or Bob Feller’s 107.6 mph pitch in 1946 remain unofficial.

Those guys were unicorns, and most of the supposed pitch speeds back then have to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Guys were throwing 300 innings, at least 8 innings each start, so nobody thew with max effort. It defies logic to think that smaller, shorter pitchers throwing more innings threw as hard as those in the game today. And yes, I'm aware of how pitch speed measurements have changed in the last 15 years.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Those guys were unicorns, and most of the supposed pitch speeds back then have to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Guys were throwing 300 innings, at least 8 innings each start, so nobody thew with max effort. It defies logic to think that smaller, shorter pitchers throwing more innings threw as hard as those in the game today. And yes, I'm aware of how pitch speed measurements have changed in the last 15 years.

Oh you’re absolutely right, and Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Rich Gossage and Vida Blue were all cream puffs too.

 

[navery12]

Oh you’re absolutely right, and Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Rich Gossage and Vida Blue were all cream puffs too.

 

[Scoe]

Pedro thinks Ohtani could close games in the postseason despite not throwing a single pitch in the regular my god that would be sick if true.

 

[GemParty]

Listen in- who’s the greatest baseball player ever and why?

 

[Excalibur]

Oh you’re absolutely right, and Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Rich Gossage and Vida Blue were all cream puffs too.

Why list guys who pitched 30+ years after Ruth retired? What on Earth does that have to do with anything?

If you're trying to claim pitching was better 90 years ago than it is now, I don't know what to tell you. You're irredeemable at this point.

 

[storrsroars]

Not to take away from the Ohtani love fest, but I just saw something I doubt has ever happened before in this specific set of circumstances.

Bottom 9th, with Ohtani in on deck circle, runners on 1st and 2nd and down 4-2 with no outs, Miguel Rojas hits a grounder to 3rd. Machado fields it, runs over to tag 3rd, throws to Cronenworth at 2nd, who gets that out, then throws to 1st, and amazingly the supposedly fleet of foot Rojas still isn't there, so triple play. And that triple play puts SD into the post-season.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Why list guys who pitched 30+ years after Ruth retired? What on Earth does that have to do with anything?

If you're trying to claim pitching was better 90 years ago than it is now, I don't know what to tell you. You're irredeemable at this point.

With respect to hitters, yes pitching was better 90 years ago, not because the pitching was better but because the pitching was easier. Pitchers back then had a huge advantage because the mound was much higher, and what that did was it made the strike zone bigger and changed the angle of pitches, creating many more ground balls. That being said, nice of you to conveniently remove Bob Feller from the discussion, who was the greatest fire baller who ever lived and pitched almost 90 years ago. That being said, Feller pitched during a time when batters had a much much tougher time getting good wood on the ball. Yet many of MLB’s batting records were set and still stand during those times. I find it insulting for you to try to denigrate the accomplishments of Feller, Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Ruth, Dizzy Dean, Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubble, Satchel Paige, and many others.

 

[Excalibur]

I already called Feller a unicorn, but I’m denigrating him.

I’m getting the sense that you are illiterate.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I already called Feller a unicorn, but I’m denigrating him.

I’m getting the sense that you are illiterate.