Whoa.
I've written here in the past about baseball things. In 2012 I lifted a bunch of lists of eras with Hall of Famers who were in their under-25 year old seasons. (I should revisit that gimmick...) I once explored a conversation my dad and I had about Derek Jeter being the greatest shortstop ever. I even once pontificated on books about Pete Rose and A-Rod in a post I didn't remember until right now.
I once added a half-joking meme to my Hank Aaron remembrance about how he should have been in the conversation for Greatest Of All Time. The end of this Hank Aaron piece is something like: I'm looking for arguments to who's better than Henry, and if you're arguing for anyone not named Willie Mays or Babe Ruth, you can kindly fuck off.
But it's obvious I was wrong. Well...now it's obvious I was wrong.
I was thinking of a few things earlier this week. What if back in September of 1994, a month after the STRIKE ended the season and the days were dark for baseball fans, someone came to us (er, baseball fans) and said: Look, I know this sucks, but in 30 years, there will be a dude who'll---get this---go 50-50! And us baseball fans would've said, What, like 50 homers and 50 doubles? I think this Albert Belle guy can get that next year (as long as they play).
But the futuristic person would say, No! Seriously! I mean 50 homers and 50 stolen bases! And we'd say, You're insane! And then they'd say, And...AND...when healthy this dude will ALSO be the best pitcher in baseball! We'd then tell this person to get the fuck outta here with all that noise.
And they'd say, No! Seriously! The most tantalizing player in the game is a power threat, hits for high average, can steal a bunch of bases, AND can throw 100 mph and can strike out anybody, even his own Mickey-Mantle-clone-teammate in the highest stakes international competition.
We baseball fans in 1994 would stare at this person with confusion on our face. And then the person would say: And, now get ready for this: people seem almost more interested in a 5'10" former first-pick quarterback getting benched after his 18th game.
Shohei Ohtani came into tonight's game on the precipice of an all-timer baseball mark. He entered tonight's game with 49 steals and 48 homers. On September 19th, this is shockingly close to baseball immortality: he had a real chance to reach an unheard of reality: 50 homers and 50 stolen bases. Enter tonight's game against the Miami Marlins.
What's Shohei's line? Just a little 6 for 6 with 10 RBIs, 3 homers, 2 steals, and a double. That's 16 bases and 4 runs scored, to go with those two steals.
He goes into September 20th, 2024, with 51 homers and 51 stolen bases.
And...and are we ready for a 40-40 guy with 20 wins? How is anyone better than Shohei? He's the best hitter and the best pitcher. Is he not the GOAT? I know...I know...it's not the longevity...and we're prisoners of the moment...but HOLY HELL, DO YOU SEE THIS GUY? What if Frank Robinson could give you 150 innings of Cy Young Award-caliber pitching? What if Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton moved to the AL and could produce 30-30 seasons as a DH/pitcher?
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