It gets more difficult to deny Shohei Ohtani’s status as one of the best players of all time as one sees him more and more. The Dodgers star recently had the extraordinary chance to exchange stories with another legendary player in baseball.
Despite the fact that Babe Ruth passed away almost 50 years before Ohtani was born in 1994, the 30-year-old Japanese celebrity had the opportunity to sit next to a Ruth doppelganger for a recent Dunlop Tyre advertisement. In the clip, Ruth and Ohtani sit on a bench, watching some kids play baseball while talking about their own baseball experiences.
Recently, Shohei Ohtani recorded an advertisement in which he imagined what it would have been like to be side by side with Babe Ruth. Imagine if these two were performing simultaneously, at the height of their abilities. (H/T @shoheisaveus, DUNLOP)” – Nation of Dodgers
The renowned New York Yankees player questions Shohei Ohtani in the clip about their common two-way ability. When asked which he likes better, batting or pitching, Ohtani concedes that hitting is his favorite and that he would rather hit a home run than get struck out.
Ruth, who was born in Baltimore in 1895, made his professional debut as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1914. Ruth finished 23-12 and had the top ERA in the league in 1916 (1.75).
But by 1919, Ruth would mostly give up on pitching in favor of hitting, and he still holds the records for OPS and slugging percentage in MLB history—two categories in which Ohtani leads the AL this year.
“In his 97 games with the @Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani has amassed 120 hits, including 30 home runs. Babe Ruth accomplished the feat in his first 94 games as a Yankee in 1920, and Ohtani is the first left-handed hitter to do so in 100 career games for a franchise since then.” – OptaSTATSHohei Ohtani already justifies Babe Ruth-like comparisons.
Babe Ruth probably would have been in awe of Shohei Ohtani if he were still with us. Freddie Freeman, Ohtani’s Dodgers teammate, stated the following to Dodgers onsider earlier this season:
“We will be discussing Shohei, much like we did with Babe Ruth. For us, it’s simply a wonderful moment to be a Dodger. Indeed, winning the offseason is not the main goal. We are aware that we must go outside and play.
Although Ohtani’s stats may still lag behind Babe Ruth’s, there’s no reason to believe he won’t or can’t reach that level as well.