Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Fri Jul 28, 2023 (AP News photo)
Shohei Ohtani – We might Never see another One like Him
That’s Amaury News and Commentary
By Amaury Pi-González
There is no bigger attraction in baseball. He sells more tickets than any other player today. Japanese two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is one of the best hitters and one of the best pitchers, all rolled into one single human being.
Baseball is the most difficult game to master, and to have a player like Ohtani playing every day and doing what he is doing; I am not sure we will see that again. Of course, the last one to do such a thing was George Herman (Babe) Ruth, and he last played in 1923, which is 100 years ago.
LA Angels owner Arturo (Arte) Moreno stopped all rumors recently when he said he will not trade Ohtani before the August 1 trade deadline. Which basically means he wants the Angels to make it to the playoffs with Ohtani.
The Los Angeles Angels last made the playoffs in 2014 and Ohtani was yet to made his anticipated debut in the major leagues. That was the year (2014) when Angels superstar Mike Trout won the first of his three MVP awards.
Trout has been out with a fracture of the hammate bone in his left hand. The plan for Moreno is to have Trout back hopefully by mid-August and go into the final stretch of the season with two of the best players in the world in the same lineup, Ohtani and Trout. That is the main reason he did not want to trade Ohtani.
Shohei Ohtani will become a free agent after the season and then a handful of teams with the resources will offer him the largest ever multi year deal in baseball history. Years ago Moreno shelled close to $500 million for Mike Trout, but if he wants to retain Ohtani it will cost him more, something in the neighborhood of between $600 million to $700 million.
At the time of this article Ohtani has 39 home runs, which is #1 in the majors, 81 runs batted in, among the leaders and is also among the leaders in most pitching categories. There is nothing “normal;” about this. He is the favorite thing to win his second consecutive American League MVP. The Japanese star is an inspiration to all in the world of sports.
“Nothing is really going to change personally just for having one good year, I feel like the key is to continue having success for a lot of years to come…” -Shohei Ohtani.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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