The 4 phrases had been first spoken right here on a shiny spring afternoon at Camelback Ranch, my astonished syllables becoming a member of comparable tones of amazement floating from each nook of a crowded press field.
“Are you kidding me?”
Right down to his final pitch in his first spring coaching recreation as a Dodger, Shohei Ohtani had simply launched a two-run dwelling run.
“Are you kidding me?”
The gang gasped in disbelief on the excellent timing and wondrous theater, the 4 phrases reverberating across the stadium like an anthem to the unimaginable.
“Are you kidding me?”
Eight months later, Los Angeles asks that query nonetheless.
Was Shohei Ohtani’s first season as a Dodger actually actual? Was the perfect baseball participant on the planet even higher than that? Might the person with arguably the very best expectations in baseball historical past really exceed them?
Sure, sure, and unbelievably, sure.
In being named the Nationwide League most respected participant on Thursday — changing into solely the second participant to win an MVP in each leagues — Ohtani accomplished a summer time embellished with a good increased honor.
Most Useful Season Ever By A Los Angeles Athlete.
This metropolis has witnessed many memorable seasons by many legendary athletes, from Magic Johnson’s rookie 12 months to Fernando Valenzuela’s rookie 12 months to Sandy Koufax’s 1963 to Eric Dickerson’s 1984 to Shaquille O’Neal’s 2000.
However by no means earlier than has one participant throughout one season dominated the game, remodeled the city, awed the world and introduced dwelling a championship.
This was not a Dodgers city when Ohtani drove up the freeway from Anaheim this winter.
It’s overwhelmingly a Dodgers city now.
His crew was thought-about a bunch of underachievers earlier than Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million contract.
His crew is now World Sequence champions.
There was little worldwide curiosity within the Dodgers earlier than Ohtani introduced his magical aura to Chavez Ravine.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits a three-run homer in opposition to the San Diego Padres in Recreation 1 of the Nationwide League Division Sequence on Oct. 5.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
The Dodgers at the moment are the preferred baseball crew on the earth.
One man modified every little thing, an MVP of MVPs, the best Dodgers newcomer since Valenzuela, the best Dodgers season ever.
“It will be a special moment that I will never forget,” he stated Thursday by way of an interpreter, after a particular season that nobody will ever neglect.
He led the league with 54 dwelling runs, 130 RBIs, a 1.036 on-base-plus-slugging proportion, and that doesn’t inform half of the story.
Ohtani was so impactful, he considerably and unselfishly improved the crew earlier than he even stepped on the sector. By agreeing to yearly defer all however $2 million of his contract, he gave Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman the monetary flexibility so as to add different nice gamers.
With out Ohtani’s generosity, Friedman may not have acquired Teoscar Hernández, Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tyler Glasnow.
Ohtani was an enormous earlier than he was an enormous.
Then the video games began and right here got here these 4 phrases. You absolutely acknowledge them, since you’ve absolutely stated them, again and again throughout a summer time of dazzle.
“Are you kidding me?”
His season started in controversy, as longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara admitted to stealing greater than $16 million from Ohtani to assist a playing dependancy.
The scandal was salacious. Ohtani was scrutinized. He was questioned. He was not believed. He lastly was cleared, however solely after his status was put by way of a wringer.
But by way of all of it he stored swinging, slugging seven dwelling runs with a 1.017 OPS within the first 32 video games.
“Are you kidding me?”
Because the summer time progressed, he quietly acquired stronger and quicker, easily making the transition to leadoff hitter and base stealer, hitting a dozen dwelling runs in June, stealing a dozen bases in July, all whereas rehabbing a surgically repaired pitching shoulder.
“Are you kidding me?”
On Aug. 23 in opposition to the Tampa Bay Rays, needing one dwelling run to develop into the sixth individual within the 40-homer, 40-steal membership, Ohtani did it with a walk-off grand slam within the backside of the ninth inning.
“Are you kidding me?”
On his Aug. 28 bobblehead evening, his canine, Decoy, delivered the primary pitch in a dash from the mound to the plate, then within the first inning Ohtani casually stepped up and homered.
“Are you kidding me?”
Shohei Ohtani turned the primary participant ever to hit 50 dwelling runs and steal 50 bases in the identical season.
On Sept. 19 in Miami, on the verge of changing into the primary member of the 50-50 membership, Ohtani barged into the report books with arguably the best offensive recreation in baseball historical past, going six for six with three homers and two stolen bases.
“Are you kidding me?”
After persistently stating that he signed with the Dodgers to win a championship, on Oct. 5 he stared down the San Diego Padres within the third inning of his first playoff recreation and promptly hit a three-run dwelling run.
“Are you kidding me?”
Within the seventh inning of Recreation 2 of the World Sequence in opposition to the New York Yankees, he suffered a partial dislocation of his left shoulder on a slide into second. Though the damage was critical sufficient to later require surgical procedure, he insisted on enjoying the remainder of the Sequence, and he did so with one arm, his left arm seemingly painfully caught to his physique. In these remaining three video games he nonetheless managed a success and drew a stroll and compelled the Yankees to account for his presence.
“Are you kidding me?”
This isn’t solely Ohtani’s report third unanimous MVP, it’s the primary one in historical past gained by a participant who didn’t play an inning within the area, and he acknowledged Thursday that his incapability to pitch led to an elevated offensive focus.
“My goal was to be able to pitch and contribute offensively and the fact that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pitch this season made me focus more on my offensive game,” he stated. “Fortunately I was able to produce and get this award which is very humbling.”
One wonders what he probably can do for an encore, but he’s already making ready for one, present process the shoulder surgical procedure instantly after the season, his elbow rehab in full fling, his intention clear.
“The goal is to be ready for opening day,” he stated. “That includes hitting and pitching.”
March 18, in Tokyo, in opposition to the Chicago Cubs, beginning on the mound and batting leadoff … Shohei Ohtani!
“Are you kidding me?”
