BOSTON — On Oct. 1, 1933, at the original Yankee Stadium, the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 6-5, after Babe Ruth’s full game effort supported their own effort with a home run.
Nearly 88 years later, the sequel to that incident takes place on Wednesday night when Shohei Ohtani leads the mound for the Angels at the new Yankee Stadium, by which point he might knock a ball or four out of the park in his other role. as The team’s main hitter
Ohtani is really the new Babe? Or we may find better people who can be compared to the talent of the generation. Exciting and unique professional shooter on the planet. By looking back, it’s shorter and wider.
“The only person I can compare him with is the whole phenomenon of Bo Jackson,” Bally Sports West Angels television color analyst Mark Gubicza said last week in a phone interview. “Now he̵
7;s like a rock star.”Ohtani, 26, is “a true nature freak,” said Michael King, who will kick off Monday night’s series with the Yankees.
Add Yankees manager Aaron Boone, whose grandfather Ray made his Major League debut in 1948, the same year the Sultan of Swat died. “The ability to hold the ball on both sides is something we have never seen before.”
The reference to dominance is no exaggeration, as Ohtani is at the top of the league leaders in home run (25), RBI (59) and OPS (1.031) while posting a 2.58 ERA in 11 starts total. 59 ¹/₃ innings It’s no wonder the Yankees needed him so much during the 2017-18 offseason when he chose the Angels
Ruth registered two seasons with the Red Sox, 1918 and 1919, where he put in above-average numbers both as a hitter and pitcher. more than before When he became the Yankees in 1920, he essentially switched to an everyday player in the right field. He only peaked five times in the Yankees.
And therein lies the main difference between The Bambino and his baseball ancestry. Two men born 99 years apart: only one accepts the duality.
“Obviously he wants to move off the pitch,” Jane Leavy, who wrote Ruth’s 2018 biopic “The Big Fella,” said of her topic in a phone interview. “It happened one at a time due to the body. [for World War I]. with all players saying [Red Sox manager Ed] Barrow is losing He needs players off the field. and when he needs a pitcher He wants Babe Ruth to come back and throw. And I don’t think babe Ruth really wanted to do that. when he tasted the fun on the pitch.”
While Ohtani, who pitches and hits for the Nippon Ham Fighters in his native Japan, It makes it clear that interested Major League Baseball teams (all) are independent agents that he won’t do unless his employer allows him to pursue. Dream of being good at both The angels blessed this even after Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2018.
Which brings us back to Bo, the Heisman Trophy winner in Auburn’s running back, saw his name as the 1986 NFL Draft First Pick (by the Buccaneers) and proceeded to drop the Bucs to sign as an outfielder with the chosen Royals. He was in the fourth round of that year’s amateur baseball draft.
“Bo, you’re talking about five-tool players across the board. And he’s the best,” said Art Stewart, then director of royal scouts. And now senior adviser to general manager Dayton Moore said in a phone interview: “He ran 3.6. [from home plate to first base] from the right [Mickey] The cloak is 3.6 from the left, I think. [Roberto] Clemente has the greatest arms, but Bo has Clemente arms, or maybe better. He has the same powers that I have seen. You talk about everything we look for in baseball and he does his best.”
Jackson made his Major League debut that same year in 1986, and as Stewart put it. “The sad thing is that he learned to be a footballer in the big leagues.” He didn’t immediately shine, but in 1989 he played on the left-field and took the lead in the American League in Allsta Games. r and won the Midsummer Classic’s Most Valuable Player award after leading the homer with national league star Rick Roychel.
By that game, it featured his signature moments as a baseball player. Jackson did the same in the NFL. Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth while scoring a touchdown for the offensive team in 1987, the new NFL season. According to the deal Jackson broke up with the Raiders after they enlisted in 87, he clocked a full MLB campaign with the Royals and joined the Raiders in the middle of the football schedule. He played in the 1991 Pro Bowl, becoming an athlete. first professional Jackson’s contemporary Deion Sanders has also enjoyed success in both worlds. He played memorably at the Falcons and the same day’s 1992 play-off Braves. He never had a baseball ceiling like Jackson’s.
Gubicza, a starting pitcher who plays alongside Jackson with the Royals, attended the Jackson’s Raiders game in Los Angeles. (Their house at the time) he recalled: “I used to go to the locker room after a football game in the old days. [LA] Coliseum then thought ‘This guy is a freak. There is nothing you can do with him.’ ”
As a broadcaster now, Gubicza experienced a similar sensation watching Ohtani’s job: “He threw six innings and hit 10. [June 4 against the Mariners].My legs, my ribs, my shoulders will hurt the day after doing so. The next day, he hit a home run on the first pitch. How is this possible? I would run long distances and lift weights and that was a fight. And he’s here. Homerun. I’ve been scratching my head all day thinking. ‘How could he do this?’”
“There’s a neuromuscular genius,” says Leavy, who wrote about the idea in Mickey Mantle’s biopic “The Lost Boy.” It’s something in that brain connection that helps them get places and do things that no one else can. It seems like Ohtani might be one.”
“It’s a good analogy that you’re making. Both him and Bo,” Stewart said of Otani. “He’s got an advantage over Bo and that’s he can throw.” Of course, Jackson was able to run nearly 1,000 yards halfway through the season with the NFL defence, which Ohtani will play in the Home Run Derby this month. Page seems improbable.
Jackson’s reign of unicorns was relatively short-lived. A hip injury from football in 1991 immediately put an end to his gridiron career. and ended his status as a baseball star He played for the White Sox and Angels in 1991, 1993 and 1994 before retiring after taking a break in 94 at the age of 32.
Ohtani’s staying power is still in question. Leavy compares Ohtani to Ruth: “Let’s see where he is in 20 years. Comparisons are inevitable at this point because you don’t know where he’ll end up. any”
Fair enough at the moment, although the special someone who has gone to the top is in The Bronx, “may have a Mickey Mantle moment if he gets it,” Gubicza said.
Yes, this man awakens the greats over and over again. Whoever he was most similar to. It is clear that along the path It will be an honor that others can compare with Shohei Otani.
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