Shohei Ohtani leaves sporting world in awe as LA Dodgers return to baseball’s World Series

– Shohei Ohtani’s otherworldly performance that propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers back to the World Series has left the sporting world in awe, with players and legends alike marvelling at what may have been the greatest single-game display in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

In a masterpiece on Oct 17 night, the 31-year-old flashed his dominance on both sides of the ball – hitting three home runs and pitching six scoreless innings while striking out 10 batters – as the Dodgers won 5-1 to complete a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in clinching the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

“This is Beethoven at a piano. This is Shakespeare with a quill. This is Michael Jordan in the Finals. This is Tiger Woods in Sunday red,” Washington Post writer Chelsea Janes wrote of Ohtani’s masterpiece.

“This is the beginning of every baseball conversation and the end of the debate: Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player who has ever played the game.”

ESPN’s commentator Jeff Passan said Ohtani was “redefining the game in real time”.

“It was the kind of night that leaves patrons elated they saw it and also just a little ruined because they know they’ll never see anything like it again,” he added.

New York Post columnist Jon Heyman posted on X: “Ohtani is king. One of the greatest performances in baseball history – probably the greatest.”

For USA Today’s Josh Peter, “the debate over who is the greatest baseball player of all time ended Friday, Oct 17”.

“Sorry for those of you still arguing in favour of Babe Ruth, but it’s Shohei Ohtani,” he wrote. “Hands down.”

Unsurprisingly, Ohtani’s Dodgers teammates and franchise leadership were in no mood to tone down the superlatives.

“That was probably the greatest post-season performance of all time,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There’s been a lot of post-season games. And there’s a reason why he’s the greatest player on the planet.”

Dodgers teammate Mookie Betts perhaps captured it best: “It’s like we’re the Chicago Bulls, and he’s Michael Jordan.”

Ohtani, nicknamed “Shotime”, wasted no time making his presence felt in the game. He walked the first batter he faced but then struck out a trio of Milwaukee batters before leading off the bottom of the first inning with a home run.

His next homer was a majestic, jaw-dropping solo blast that he hit completely out of Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning to put the home side ahead 4-0 before adding another in the seventh.

The Japanese two-way sensation achieved numerous firsts on that day, becoming the first player with three homers and 10 strikeouts as a pitcher in the same game, the first pitcher with multiple home runs in a play-off contest, and the first pitcher to hit a lead-off homer in any MLB game.

“Gotta be one of the greatest athletic performances in history . Never seen anything like Shohei ,” three-time National Football League Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt wrote on X.

Dodgers part-owner Magic Johnson, who produced his share of standout games during a Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Lakers, also chimed in after watching a dominant Ohtani allow just two hits in the game.

“We’ve seen a baseball player hit three HRs in a Playoff game and we’ve seen a pitcher throw a two hitter and 10 strikeouts in a Playoff game – but we’ve never seen one player do both like Shohei Ohtani did tonight!” wrote the National Basketball Association legend.

American tennis great Billie Jean King, also a part owner of the Dodgers, posted a photo on X of her, partner Ilana Kloss and Ohtani on the field after the game with all three smiling and wearing National League Champions T-shirts.

“We were so fortunate to have witnessed the greatest performance by Shohei Ohtani as both a pitcher and hitter: 10 strikeouts and 3 home runs. And he’s just getting started,” she wrote in the social media post.

After being named NLCS Most Valuable Player, Ohtani remained characteristically humble.

“We won it as a team, and this was really a team effort,” he said through his interpreter. “So I hope everybody in LA and Japan and all over the world could enjoy a really good sake.”

Reigning champions Dodgers will face either the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. The Mariners lead the Blue Jays 3-2 in the American League Championship Series and can wrap up the series with a win in Toronto on Oct 19 (Oct 20, Singapore time). REUTERS, AFP

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