Recreation 3 between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday evening tied the document for the longest sport in World Sequence historical past, extending all the best way to the 18th inning earlier than first baseman Freddie Freeman walked it off with a solo residence run to provide the Dodgers a 6-5 win and a 2-1 sequence lead.
The sport itself was historic, however the efficiency from Shohei Ohtani was one for the document books because the two-way star continues to rewrite historical past every time he steps on the sphere.
Following his newest feat of reaching base a document 9 instances and turning into the second participant in MLB historical past with 4 extra-base hits in a World Sequence sport (Frank Isbell, 1906), ESPN insider Jeff Passan couldn’t praise the two-way star sufficient throughout a Tuesday look on “Get Up.”
Jeff Passan blown away by Shohei Ohtani’s excellence
“If you wish to say that that is essentially the most gifted participant in baseball historical past, you wouldn’t be incorrect,” Passan stated. “If you wish to name him the best participant in baseball historical past, there is a actually good argument to be made. However, the fantastic thing about Shohei Ohtani is that simply while you suppose he cannot do one thing, he turns round and does it.”
In Monday evening’s sport alone, Ohtani was 4-for-4 with with two residence runs, two doubles and 5 walks, 4 of which have been intentional. Earlier than Monday evening, no participant had ever reached base greater than six instances in a postseason sport and Ohtani did it on 9 events.
Ohtani is so feared when he steps to the plate that Toronto deliberately walked him with the bases empty, and he turned the primary participant to be deliberately walked a number of instances within the World Sequence.
As sensational as Ohtani was on Monday evening, that kind of efficiency on the massive stage is actually nothing new. In spite of everything, he put collectively arguably the perfect sport ever performed in Recreation 4 of the NLCS when he pitched six innings of shutout baseball, struck out 10 batters and hit three residence runs.Â
Ohtani’s potential to play his greatest when the stakes are the best is one thing that actually impresses Passan, particularly contemplating we by no means received to see him in postseason motion till he joined the Dodgers.
“The constraints, they do not exist with him, and the fantastic thing about Shohei Ohtani is that he steps up in these large moments,” Passan continued. “We did not see it with the Los Angeles Angels as a result of they by no means made the playoffs when he was there. However in simply two years with the Dodgers, the stamp that he has placed on that group, on Main League Baseball and on his profession and legacy, it is innumerable.”
As if the historic evening in Recreation 3 was not sufficient, Ohtani is scheduled to start out in Recreation 4 on Tuesday evening because the Dodgers look to place the Blue Jays getting ready to elimination.Â
It’s simply the newest signal of his greatness and why he’s already being thought of the best to ever play the sport. At simply 31 years previous, Ohtani nonetheless has loads of his profession in entrance of him as effectively, giving him extra time so as to add some historic moments to a profession already filled with them.
