In the sports media world, the phrase “video game numbers” is used far too often to describe accomplishments that seem impossible on paper.
Yet somehow, that phrase simply cannot do justice to what Shohei Ohtani did Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to close out the Milwaukee Brewers with a sweep in the NLCS and book a spot in the World Series for the second consecutive year. Manager Dave Roberts called on Ohtani to start Game 4 on the mound, while penciling in his name as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter when filling out the lineup card.
Ohtani walked the first batter he faced, but then stranded Brice Turang on first as he struck out the next three hitters in order, including DH Christian Yelich looking on a 100-mph fastball that was down in the zone.
Ohtani then walked off the mound, picked up his bat and batting helmet, and did this to lead off the bottom of the inning:
The superstar’s solo shot to deep right field — coming on a 76-mph slurve down and in — staked the Dodgers to an early 1-0 lead, and kicked the home crowd into a frenzy.
It was a bit of MLB history, as Ohtani became the first pitcher in MLB to hit a leadoff home run (in either the regular season or the playoffs). But Ohtani was just getting warmed up, and there would be more history on this night.
After walking in the bottom of the second, he next came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning, and by that time the Dodgers led 3-0 and Ohtani had already rung up six strikeouts while allowing just a single hit.
Ohtani turned on an 89-mph cutter down-and-in from Chad Patrick and unleashed a mammoth blast, 469 feet to center field, that looks as if it cleared Lot 6 and made it all the way to Academy Road.
Yes, this home run is worth multiple angles. First, the Ump Cam:
Then, this angle that shows just how far this ball traveled:
Ohtani struck out two more in the top of the fifth, first fanning Caleb Durbin on a splitter down in the zone, and then punching out Blake Perkins on the same pitch, an 87-mph splitter:
He hit ten strikeouts in the sixth inning, first striking out pinch hitter Isaac Collins, and then getting Turang as well. Both strikeouts came courtesy of his splitter, which was working all night long:
His night on the bump ended in the top of the seventh, as Roberts pulled Ohtani after he gave up a walk and a hit to start the inning. His final pitching line? Six innings pitched, two hits, three walks, and ten strikeouts.
He would also end the night without giving up a run, as the bullpen stranded those two runners and the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Which, as the baseball gods would have it, was the next time he came to the plate:
5-0 Dodgers, and Ohtani now had three home runs to go with a six-inning scoreless performance with ten strikeouts.
The Los Angeles bullpen closed out the game, with the Dodgers winning by a final score of 5-1, and they are on their way back to the World Series.
With Ohtani making more history in the process:
After the game, Ohtani’s teammates made some stunning — yet apt — comparisons.
“It’s like we’re the Chicago Bulls,” said Mookie Betts, “and he’s Michael Jordan.”
ESPN summed up the history Ohtani made on Friday night:
“Ohtani became the first player in major league history to hit two home runs as a pitcher in a postseason game, let alone three, according to ESPN Research. He hit more home runs than he allowed hits (two), also a first. Before him, no pitcher — at any stage in the season — had hit a leadoff home run, and no player had accumulated three home runs as a hitter and 10 strikeouts as a pitcher. Ohtani is the first player in Dodgers history to homer as a pitcher in the postseason and the second to have a three-homer performance in an LCS-clinching game, joining Hernandez’s performance from 2017.”
“That was probably the greatest postseason performance of all time,” Roberts said. “There’s been a lot of postseason games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet.”
After last night, it is hard to argue that point.
Perhaps the best way to summarize what Ohtani did on Friday night is simply by watching it. Here is a cut-up of his three home runs and his ten strikeouts:
“I can’t wait for when I’m a little bit older and my kids are asking about, ‘What’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen in baseball?’” Max Muncy said. “I can’t wait to pull up this game today. That’s the single best performance in the history of baseball. I don’t care what anyone says.
“Obviously, I don’t know what happened a hundred years ago, but that’s the single best performance I’ve ever seen in my life.”
