The stardust had barely settled over Dodger Stadium before the debate got under way.
Was this the greatest performance by the greatest player in baseball history?
Shohei Ohtani wrote another entry into his ever-expanding catalogue of the improbable on Friday, blasting three home runs and recording 10 strikeouts to send the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / USA Today
The Japanese superstar’s sensational display in a 5-1 victory that completed a series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers provided final, glittering confirmation for many that the 31-year-old — a unicorn who combines elite pitching and hitting talent — stands alone in baseball’s pantheon of greats.
No player in MLB post-season history had ever hit three home runs and struck out 10 opposition batters in the same game.
Only one other pitcher in modern history — the Boston Braves’ Jim Tobin in 1942 — has hit three home runs in a single game.
“This is Beethoven at a piano. This is Shakespeare with a quill. This is Michael Jordan in the Finals. This is Tiger Woods in Sunday red,” Washington Post writer Chelsea Janes wrote of Ohtani’s masterpiece. “This is the beginning of every baseball conversation and the end of the debate: Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player who has ever played the game.”
ESPN commentator Jeff Passan said Ohtani was “redefining the game in real time.”
“It was the kind of night that leaves patrons elated they saw it and also just a little ruined because they know they’ll never see anything like it again,” Passan said.
New York Post columnist Jon Heyman wrote on X: “Ohtani is king. One of the greatest performances in baseball history — probably the greatest.”
For USA Today’s Josh Peter, “the debate over who is the greatest baseball player of all time ended Friday, Oct. 17.”
“Sorry for those of you still arguing in favor of Babe Ruth, but it’s Shohei Ohtani,” Peter wrote. “Hands down.”
‘ONE OF ONE’
Unsurprisingly, Ohtani’s Dodgers teammates and franchise leadership were in no mood to tone down the superlatives.
“That was probably the greatest post-season performance of all time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani’s performance.
“There’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet ... It’s kind of whatever you don’t expect, expect him to do it,” he said. “No one’s ever seen something like this. I’m still in awe right now of Shohei.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts compared Ohtani’s presence to NBA icon Michael Jordan.
“We’re like the Chicago Bulls, and he’s like Michael Jordan. Wherever he goes, we’re all gonna go,” Betts said.
Third baseman Max Muncy added, “We witnessed probably the single greatest game by a baseball player ever today.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who led the team’s successful pursuit of Ohtani in 2023, when he signed for the franchise on a US$700 million 10-year contract, said the three-time MLB Most Valuable Player’s achievements tested “the limitations of the human brain.”
“We can’t comprehend just how special this is and how unique. It’s one of one,” he said.
Ohtani, who last year became the first player in history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season, had entered Friday’s game four mired in a form slump. An eight-game home run drought had left some questioning his ability to deliver in the pressure-cooker of playoff baseball.
Dodgers skipper Roberts said he had never doubted Ohtani’s ability to come good.
“I just don’t know how he handles sort of the expectations, because a lot of times when you have expectations like he has, they’re just unattainable and you just never realize them,” Roberts said. “I just felt that his confidence is unflappable. His work is very consistent. I just knew that he’s just too talented, and it’s not like the moment’s ever too big for him.”
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