In his first 4 full seasons as a pitcher with Boston, Ruth was 78-40 with an ERA just a pinch above 2. His Batting average against was only around .210.
Admittedly, his strikeout to walk ratio was poor, but with that low ERA, it obviously didn't hurt him that much.
He pitched 92(!) complete games in those years, too.
Now, Otani may exceed those numbers, but time will tell, as he has only played those same years.
Interestingly, in 1918 & 1919 his batting average against was a hundred points lower than his own batting average! A hundred points.

Ohtani as I don't recall Ruth pitching and hitting at the same time, same games even. That's unprecedented.

Before Ohtani came along, the consensus among most baseball cognoscenti was that Mays was the most complete, 5-tool player ever whose HR total, still quite high, suffered from playing in SF's Candlestick Park where the stiff wind blew in.

I've been a Mays fan for forever but I'm teetering...

It wasn't until 1918 that he had over 200 at-bats for a season. That jumped up to well over 300 that year, but in 1919, he was pitching way less.
Unlike Shohei, he was not an every day player as a hitter, until his 5th or 6th season.
But, he was a STAR pitcher while hitting some. But, changed the game as a hitter.
Saw Otani standing next to Trout recently. Man, he's a big dude! Built like Ichiro he ain't!

he's a big guy. That helps. Look at 6'7" Judge of the Yankees.

And speaking of Trout, what a shame that the Angels have been so poorly run over the years that most people have no idea who he is and that he's been considered the best player in the game for years...there's been no marketing of him like basketball and football stars get marketed.

Trout is spectacularly good, even though he's in a pretty bad slump right now.
But, even with Otani & Trout, and the Angel's are having their best season in Mike's era, they're still 4.5 games out of first!
And, they play A LOT of their games at 10:30/9:30 EDT/CDT, so nobody east of Nebraska gets to watch them.
The Dodgers & Giants are regularly in east coast primetime 9n ESPN & MLBN, but not the Angels.
It's a shame.

Last edited Tue Jun 20, 2023, 05:02 PM - Edit history (1)

once he's a free agent? I know the Yankees, Dodgers and other teams will come calling.

The Angel's can afford to keep him, so it shouldn't be about money.
If he finds a comfort zone in SoCal, and the Angels make the playoffs, they can probably keep him.
They slump & miss the playoffs, I'm less confident.

every pitcher hit and pitched in the same game.

ever get good wood on the ball. Ohtani is one of the best hitters, and pitchers, in the game now.

Unprecedented.