Sho Makes MLB History
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
Nitoryu, as Shohei Ohtani is described in his native Japanese, is a uniquely fitting moniker for such an incredible standalone character in the story that is the history of baseball. Used historically to signify a Shogun or Samurai warrior who engaged in battle with multiple swords, it has been loaned to the modern-day variety in Ohtani, who rides into battle with his Louisville slugger and New Balance mitt on the mound.
It is a given that Shohei Ohtani’s talent is beyond belief, something we haven’t seen since the days of Babe Ruth across the street from that building they now call Yankee Stadium on 161st Street, but let’s talk about how Ohtani outdid himself in 2023. Ohtani grabbed a unanimous decision on the American League MVP in 20 less games than it took in his first Most Valuable Player season in 2021.
Even with the slight downtick in games played, Shohei Ohtani barely dipped in total numbers and increased his production in some very key areas, despite the lack of offensive threats in the lineup around him. Mike Trout, who represents the only minimal protection in the Angles lineup for Ohtani again missed 80 games in 2023, and it affected Ohtani very little, if at all.
With no Mike Trout and minimal offensive threats to opposing pitching staffs, Shohei Ohtani took it upon himself to at least give the Los Angeles Angles a fighting chance at victories. From a season in 2021 where Ohtani won the AL MVP, he jumped up from a .372 on base percentage to .412, meaning only Ronald Acuña of the Atlanta Braves got on base more to help his team. For reference, there are six Atlanta Braves in the top 100 players in MLB in 2023 beside Acuña, there were zero Angels on the list other than Shohei Ohtani.
Not only did Shohei Ohtani get on base more to single handedly help his team, but he also showed incredible discipline at the plate to the tune of lifting his batting average 47 points to .304, which in this era might as well make him Tony Gwynn or Ty Cobb. Unfortunately, having missed the plate appearances in the 20 less games in 2023, Ohtani did not surpass his career-highs in Home Runs or RBI, but it did little to dissuade a unanimous decision for AL MVP.
Only 11 players in the history of Major League Baseball have more than two MVP trophies, and all of them are hall of famers, legends, and household names. All 11 took their entire careers to get to three MVPs and Shohei Ohtani is only one short in his sixth season in the league. It cannot be overstated that had Aaron Judge not set an AL record in Home Runs at 62 last season, Ohtani may be tied with the likes of Stan Musial, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, and his teammate, Mike Trout with three MVPs. A run at Barry Bonds’ seven MVP career record cannot be absurd to discuss if Ohtani can stay healthy for at least the next half a decade.
Of all of his gaudy accomplishments in a career that if he stopped playing right this second might very well already qualify him as a unanimous hall of fame induction in Cooperstown, one sticks out the most when it comes to the “Nitoryu”. Not many things have ever been agreed upon in baseball, whether it is writers/media dislike of a certain ball player, city loyalties, personal relationships with a player or club, whatever it is, players in the history of baseball rarely create accord amongst baseball people within the game. Shohei Ohtani is someone the entire planet can agree is a talent that may never be seen again in our lifetime.
People who gloated that they watched Babe Ruth on the ‘Murderers Row’ Yankees should now be envious of this generation, watching the only player to ever win a unanimous MVP on multiple occasions in over 100 years of the sport. Words will need to be invented for what Shohei Ohtani will accomplish in his career in Major League Baseball, and the entirety of humanity will be tuned in over the offseason to see which uniform he will don to rack up the records for the 2024 season and beyond.
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