As Japan prepared to face the U.S. in last year’s World Baseball Classic final, Shohei Ohtani famously warned his teammates to stop revering their American peers. “If we idolize them, we can’t surpass them,” he said. The advice worked and Japan went on to win with Ohtani closing out the game in the ninth inning.
Now the tables have turned and the baseball world idolizes Ohtani. Win or lose with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs, Ohtani has already achieved not just what many are calling the greatest individual game in Major League Baseball history, but also the greatest season. Sports journalism is running low on superlatives for him: Such is his domination he’s been dubbed “the most talented player ever to step onto a baseball field,” and a “lion playing with cubs.”
Ohtani became the first-ever player in MLB history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. He has done all of this while utilizing just half his talent. Ohtani first made his name as a “dual-wielding” two-way star who could pitch as well as he hits, but has stayed off the mound this season following elbow surgery. That hasn’t prevented him from having an economic impact of nearly ¥117 billion ($783 million) this season alone, in ticket sales and other revenue, according to Kansai University professor emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto.