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Once Shohei Ohtani homered for the third time — shortly after finishing his six scoreless innings on the mound — the excellence began in earnest.
Best baseball performance of all time?
Best game performance, period?
The pinnacle of overall human achievement?
That last one is probably over the top, but the first two questions are worth exploring. In game On Friday night in the fourth round of the NL Championship Series, Ohtani became the third player to hit three homers in a game in which he was a starting pitcher. He became the only man since at least 1906 to reach double figures in both total bases at the plate (12) and strikeouts on the mound (10).
To put his performance in more simple terms: There are three main components to baseball – pitching, hitting, and fielding. Ohtani pitched two-thirds of the games and gave up the fewest possible runs. He got four chances and made the best of three of them. The second was to take a walk.
Unless he pitches more innings – or perhaps plays in the outfield and slugs some homers, it will be hard for him to fare better.
When Don Larson played his best game New York Yankees His dominance was only on the mound during the 1956 World Series. And it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. According to Baseball Reference, he went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice fly at the plate that day.
As baseball has evolved, good pitching and good hitting have become mutually exclusive. It is very difficult for a player to excel at both at the big league level. Or so we thought. Then Ohtani came along.
Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in a game. carli lloyd Took a hat-trick in the first 16 minutes of the World Cup final. Secretariat’s 31-length victory at the Belmont was so astonishing that even non-horse racing fans could understand the enormity of it. You could argue that those three – or even Larsson – were more influential than Ohtani in those days. But his performance did not combine two incompatible skills so wonderfully.
What is comparable?
Bill Russell once had 30 points and 40 rebounds in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — but even so, there’s always a fair amount of overlap between great scorers and great rebounders. There was a time when big men stayed around the basket and guards shot jumpers, but now centers can also shoot 3-pointers and dish out assists. In basketball, that versatility is expected.
In nflPassing and running are different skills, but many players have both. Colin Kaepernick threw for 263 yards and ran for 181 in the 2013 playoff game. lamar jackson and Patrick Mahomes have both surpassed 500 yards passing and rushing in a game, but the fact that so many players have done it makes it less of a novelty.
Its opposite – a great running back who also throws – is less common. Darren McFadden was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist at Arkansas, dominating games on the field as well as taking snaps at quarterback in the Wildcat formation. He once set an SEC record with 321 yards rushing in a game – and also threw a TD pass that night.
In the 1983 game, Walter Payton rushed for 161 yards and also threw two TDs.
But Ohtani’s real analogy in soccer is a player who contributes in attack and defense, and they went out of style about 65 years ago. Travis Hunter won the Heisman last year for his work at receiver and defensive back, and maybe he’ll produce an Ohtani-like game for the Jacksonville Jaguars at some point. In 1997 against Ohio State, Michigan’s Charles Woodson caught a 37-yard pass to set up a touchdown, returned it 78 yards for a TD and intercepted a pass in the end zone. However, even in that game, Woodson was not touching the ball that much. Does this really compare to Ohtani pitching six innings?
In the early days of football, offensive players sometimes handled kicking duties. In 1929, Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and kicked four extra points in the Cardinals’ 40–6 victory over the Bears. His 40 points individually were an NFL record that still stands.
As recently as 1970, 43-year-old George Blanda threw a game-tying touchdown pass, then kicked a 52-yard field goal in the final seconds to lead the Raiders to a victory over the Browns.
return to baseball
It’s probably easy to compare Ohtani’s performance to other baseball performances, and one thing in particular applies. In 1971, Rick Wise of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against Cincinnati, while also hitting two homers. Although this wasn’t a postseason game, Wise is a player who has a legitimate case for besting Ohtani’s effort last week.
And later that 1971 season, Wise pitched a 12-inning complete game – at one point retiring 32 consecutive batters – and won the contest with a walk-off hit.
Your move, Shohei.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB