LOS ANGELES — There aren’t enough superlatives left to describe this man, this myth, this legend. And we can’t print curse words in the newspaper, so …
So here’s what I’ve got: Shohei. Ohtani.
If you read that name, you know what I’m sayin’: It simply doesn’t get any greater than.
The GOAT; the GOAT.
The greatest player of all time having the greatest game of all time – in no small part because of the great time he picked to have it: Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, World Series berth there for the taking.
Three home runs.
Ten strikeouts.
Six scoreless innings.
By one guy! By the same guy!
Stuff of legends, stuff of gods.
Stuff of envy, stuff of awe.
Said first baseman Freddie Freeman: “I’m still speechless.”
Echoed fellow ace pitcher Blake Snell: “That was crazy.”
Manager Dave Roberts: “He created a lot of memories for a lot of people.”
And anyone got any questions anymore about whether he can hit if he pitches in a postseason game? Anyone? Anybody? No? So that’s settled. Ohtani settled it.
The 10-year, $700 million man exploded out of his postseason slump, picked up the Dodgers and launched them back into the World Series with an unprecedented pinch-me performance in a 5-1 victory to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers on an unforgettable night at Chavez Ravine.
Ohtani hadn’t been his best self coming into play; between the four-game series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Division Series and the first three games of the NLCS, Ohtani was 3 for 29 (.103) without a homer, only a pair of RBIs, 14 strikeouts and five walks – three of which were intentional.
But a few hours before Ohtani’s first pitch on Friday, Roberts wasn’t worried.
“This is his opportunity to make his mark on this series,” Roberts predicted. “We’re going to see his best effort. I feel good that he’s pitching for us. And there’s going to be some serious focus and compete tonight.”
No, but seriously. The NLCS MVP and soon-to-be four-time league MVP, baseball’s undisputed unicorn gouged the overmatched Brewers hitters with his nasty array of pitches.
The 31-year-old right-handed pitcher used his cutter, his sweeper, his slider and his heat – a four-seem fastball that touched 100 mph early and remained in the high-90s. He threw 100 pitches and allowed just two hits, the fourth Dodgers pitcher to completely confound Milwaukee in the series sweep.
Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the first inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)But then there was Ohtani’s Superman quick changes from hurler to slugger, his transformation into the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter who this season hit a personal- and franchise-record 55 home runs.
In the first inning, Ohtani the hitter worked the count full against Milwaukee starter Jose Quintana and then homered to right field – the first home run by a Dodgers pitcher in the postseason.
He was feeling good.
In his next at-bat in the fourth inning, he crushed his second – the longest hit in the Statcast era, 469 feet, beyond the right-field pavilion roof – something only Willie Stargell and Kyle Schwarber had done.
Previously, only one pitcher in postseason history had 10 or more strikeouts and a homer in a game: Bob Gibson, twice.
Good company, for sure. Except that Ohtani – the greatest – doesn’t need any.
Hit hit his third bomb – a 427-foot shot to center field – in the seventh inning, pushing the Dodgers’ lead to 5-0 and sending the stadium into delirium.
There was a guy – a right-hander named Jim Tobin – who pitched for the Boston Braves and hit three home runs in a big league game back on May 13, 1942, when Major League Baseball had lost many of its stars like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams to military service.
Otherwise, nobody else and never before.
“He’s just too talented, and it’s not like the moment’s ever too big for him,” Roberts said afterward. “So with that combination, you just know that it’s going to happen at some point.”
Thing is, “it” can mean just about anything when it comes to Ohtani. You don’t even have to be able to dream it and he still might pull it off.
Ohtani is only the 12th hitter to go deep three times in a postseason game, though the players on that list – Babe Ruth, twice, and Dodgers Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez, included – weren’t also pitching those games.
There had previously been only 24 home runs hit by pitchers in a playoff game.
So what about Ohtani vs. Ohtani, historically? Mirror, mirror, that might be the only fair comp for the who Roberts correctly calls “the greatest player on the planet.”
On June 27, 2023, Ohtani started for the Angels, got the win – giving up one run in 6⅓ innings – over the Chicago White Sox and hit two home runs.
A pretty, pretty, pretty good game.
And then there was July 27, 2023, when the Angels played two. In the first game of the doubleheader, Ohtani pitched a one-hitter in nine innings in a 6-0 victory over Detroit. Then in Game 2, he came right back and hit two home runs in the Halos’ 11-4 victory.
A pretty, pretty, pretty good day.
But not as good as Friday. Nowhere as great as Friday.
Game 4 was something to toast to, said Ohtani himself, telling his ecstatic “M-V-P!”-chanting fans who hung around to watch him get his NLCS MVP hardware: “I hope everybody in L.A. and Japan and all over the world can enjoy a really good sake.”
Cheers to that. Cheers to Shohei Ohtani.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani poses with the NLCS MVP trophy after his epic performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Ohtani hit three home runs and pitched six scoreless innings in the series-clinching 5-1 win. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)Related Articles
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