MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger seems to have some magical powers in his words!
Because on Saturday night, he acted like a prophet, and right before the live look-in on Shohei Ohtani’s at-bat; he made a bold claim.
Amsinger loudly named Shohei Ohtani as the “greatest living baseball player on the planet.”
Although not many people still subscribe to the fact given that Barry Bonds is still around—but it was daring of Amsinger to give that bold monologue.
However, given that Ohtani is among the top 5 pitchers and batters and is soon to be the three-time MVP—Amsinger isn’t that wrong!
Ohtani’s been doing things that have been unseen since Babe Ruth, and that was a century ago.
And right after Amsinger announced that praise for the Japanese icon, Ohtani smashed a jaw-dropping home run—his 41st.
Shohei Ohtani is breaking all the records!
At the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the Tampa Bay Rays game, Ohtani topped his 40th home run and did his 41st. The fact that Amsinger just pronounced him the greatest, and he did that run-in at the moment — is that divine timing? Amsinger shouted in excitement, “The greatest living player just hit a two-run bomb live” — the show must not stop, no matter how excited you are, right? His colleagues, meanwhile, were in disbelief at how spot on his call was. “You never cease to amaze me; you must have a horseshoe. I’ve had enough!” they joked.
Sadly for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the magic didn’t last them the entire night, and they ended up losing to the Rays, but no doubt, that moment right there was magical. Moreover, this shouldn’t mellow their spirit, because they have team members who are the crème de la crème of the sport now. Ohtani only just etched his name in history getting into the exclusive club of 40-40 and he did it with style. Shohei Ohtani made a walk-off grand slam and became the sixth player in the history of the sport to be able to do 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a single season.
The farthest anyone got at Nippon Professional Baseball was Koji Akiyama, with 43 home runs and 38 stolen bases in 1987. It just seems like Ohtani is slashing all records and it feels like there is nothing he can’t do. From hitting, and pitching to lifting deadlifts that people feel faint just by looking—he is doing it all, and it doesn’t look like he is breaking a sweat to do so. But he has more goals he seems to be looking forward to.
Aaron Judge vs Shohei Ohtani – who is the greatest baseball player?
Shohei Ohtani made history, not only etching his name in an exclusive list where currently greats like Alex Rodriguez sit but also doing it faster than any other player. He reached the milestone in his 126th game and that’s not all. He also did it in record time. Whilst others on the 40-40 list needed most of September to reach, he did it in August. But while he undoubtedly is one of the greatest baseball players, he faces tough competition ahead.
While Ohtani was crushing it, even Aaron Judge was making headlines of his own–he hit his 49th home run of the season against the Rockies. Both these players are chasing that top-level career milestone. Ohtani is on pace to reach the 50-50 and, given his pace, it doesn’t look impossible. Judge, on the other hand, could be the first player unconnected to performance-enhancing drugs to hit 60 home runs in multiple seasons.
After Friday’s game, The New York Yankee captain secured his place in the history books. He became the first player in MLB history to hit over .375 with 45 home runs and 100 RBIs across a 100-game span. He had a .378 batting average, 45 homers, and a slugging percentage was .835. Such numbers over some time are unheard of. The judge’s power and average are off-the-charts this season. It almost looks like the competition is driving both the players Judge and Ohtani to even greater heights.
While nobody still knows who ultimately will be deemed the greatest player this season, one thing is for sure — everyone is having a heck of a time watching the game. It’s one of the better seasons of baseball, and even that’s an understatement.
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Source: Tampa Bay Times
