✹The PERENNIAL Shohei Ohtani Thread✹

[BBases31]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

Legitimate question. How many years does Ohtani have to do this two-way thing to become legendary status? 2 years? 3 years? 2 years + 4 years of hitting/closing? What will it take to make the HOF? You can be technical and go by WAR, but that just doesn't do Baseball Lazourous justice (yes, Babe Ruth reference).

Alternatively, say he finishes the year with 40 home runs on .270 and a 2.90 ERA with 140Ks on 100 innings to win the MVP - then he decides to just pitch or hit (knock on wood). Where does that put him in baseball folklore?

We know it's a unique baseball situation, but the truth is that the hobby doesn't know how to value this dude either. He basically re-added a 27th letter to the 150 year old baseball alphabet. It's a crazy thought that his cards could be what kids collect in 20 years after a Hollywood movie educates them how he re-changed the game.

He can do this for the next decade. He already had Tommy John and he has less mileage on his arm than just about any pitcher at this point in their career. He’s not going to do just one or the other, ever, because he doesn’t need to choose. He’s going to be pitching and hitting until he retires. The only slowdown may be a move to the bullpen but I highly doubt that will happen because he is so elite as a starter

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by BBases31

He can do this for the next decade. He already had Tommy John and he has less mileage on his arm than just about any pitcher at this point in their career. He’s not going to do just one or the other, ever, because he doesn’t need to choose. He’s going to be pitching and hitting until he retires. The only slowdown may be a move to the bullpen but I highly doubt that will happen because he is so elite as a starter

I am clearly an Ohtani optimist, but your body changes drastically into your 30s. His ligament may be fresh, but the overall load on your joints, tendons, and other ligaments are what they are. Asian players do have a track record of longevity, which probably will help, but expecting full time two way duties for more than 5 years is pretty tough. Even Babe Ruth only did it full time for 5 years and he was in his early 20s to start the stretch.

Anyway, my point was simply to take a step back and put on my "prudent investor" hat and ask what is the minimum requirement for him to elevate to Mount Rushmore status (Trout, Griffey, Pujols, etc).

[BaseballKing]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

I am clearly an Ohtani optimist, but your body changes drastically into your 30s. His ligament may be fresh, but the overall load on your joints, tendons, and other ligaments are what they are. Asian players do have a track record of longevity, which probably will help, but expecting full time two way duties for more than 5 years is pretty tough. Even Babe Ruth only did it full time for 5 years and he was in his early 20s to start the stretch.

Anyway, my point was simply to take a step back and put on my "prudent investor" hat and ask what is the minimum requirement for him to elevate to Mount Rushmore status (Trout, Griffey, Pujols, etc).

Seaweed and raw fish is the ticket. Burgers,hot dogs and chips not so much.

P.S. Apologies for the gross generalisation but I read somehwhere that there are islands in Japan where many people live until they are 100+ years old. Life expectancy for both sexes is in the high 90's. Their diet is almost exclusively fish and seaweed.

Shohei is more like a 20 year old in Western years. He'll be pitching well into his 50's...

[freudianslip]

I acquired this on 4/13/18 and it’s been sitting in its card saver ever since...



It’s untouched and extremely likely to Gem in my opinion but I sorta got out of the card game a few months later and moved on to other things.

Obviously, it’s now time to have this thing graded but I crawled out from under my rock a few weeks ago and discovered everything going on with PSA. Looks like it’ll end up costing a small fortune to have it graded once they are taking orders again but what can you do?

Here’s to hoping that Mr. Ohtani continues his meteoric trajectory...

[NYRE2PECT]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

Legitimate question. How many years does Ohtani have to do this two-way thing to become legendary status? 2 years? 3 years? 2 years + 4 years of hitting/closing? What will it take to make the HOF? You can be technical and go by WAR, but that just doesn't do Baseball Lazarus justice (yes, Babe Ruth reference).

Alternatively, say he finishes the year with 40 home runs on .270 and a 2.90 ERA with 140Ks on 100 innings to win the MVP - then he decides to just pitch or hit (knock on wood). Where does that put him in baseball folklore?

We know it's a unique baseball situation, but the truth is that the hobby doesn't know how to value this dude either. He basically re-added a 27th letter to the 150 year old baseball alphabet. It's a crazy thought that his cards could be what kids collect in 20 years after a Hollywood movie educates them how he re-changed the game.

1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 1 decade - I will enjoy it for however long it lasts. Maddon is crazy enough to use him in a myriad of ways which will be a lot of fun as well.

He is such a freakishly, wonderful, and humble, unicorn.

Imagine when he guns out a runner at the plate or pulls off an Ichiro cannon to third to nab someone trying to tag up.

[omega145]

New to the Ohtani train.....anyone have recommendations for cards that have some great images of both him hitting and pitching on the card front? Any rookie cards that have this?

The Project70 Ohtani from Quiccs is very cool and exactly what i'm looking for in terms of card front design but looking for more along the lines of typical card releases from packs.

[BaseballKing]

Originally Posted by NYRE2PECT

1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 1 decade - I will enjoy it for however long it lasts. Maddon is crazy enough to use him in a myriad of ways which will be a lot of fun as well.

He is such a freakishly, wonderful, and humble, unicorn.

Imagine when he guns out a runner at the plate or pulls off an Ichiro cannon to third to nab someone trying to tag up.

His play this year is a real tonic for the game and the hobby. He really is a freakish player. I'd like to see him concentrate solely on pitching, however. The Angels need that more than anything else. He'd be a Cy Young candidate.

[BaseballKing]

Originally Posted by omega145

New to the Ohtani train.....anyone have recommendations for cards that have some great images of both him hitting and pitching on the card front? Any rookie cards that have this?

The Project70 Ohtani from Quiccs is very cool and exactly what i'm looking for in terms of card front design but looking for more along the lines of typical card releases from packs.

2018 Topps Gold Label Class1

[NYRE2PECT]

Originally Posted by BaseballKing

2018 Topps Gold Label Class1

Yes.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Philthy]

I appreciate Maddon getting creative and putting Ohtani in RF to get another at-bat. However, I feel like he lost the game by not letting Ohtani pitch the 8th. He was at 88 pitches and had been extremely efficient so far esepcially considering he struck out 10. The Angels bullpen is really poor and they should have let Ohtani come out and at least face the first batter in the 8th to see how he faired.

In either case, Ohtani is so fun to watch!

[omega145]

Originally Posted by BaseballKing

2018 Topps Gold Label Class1

Originally Posted by NYRE2PECT

Yes.

Thanks to the both of you! Definitely picking up a copy of that. Appreciate the help! Open to any other recommendations.

[HarryLime]

Starting to get them big dog prices.



Arthur

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by NYRE2PECT

Yes.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is now my favorite RC! I have no idea how I missed this one...I am done buying cards though right now which makes me sad.

[jswek]

Originally Posted by omega145

New to the Ohtani train.....anyone have recommendations for cards that have some great images of both him hitting and pitching on the card front? Any rookie cards that have this?

The Project70 Ohtani from Quiccs is very cool and exactly what i'm looking for in terms of card front design but looking for more along the lines of typical card releases from packs.

Partial to this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36338909407...IAAOSwGGVglsXx

[okumeister]

Not a rookie, and may not look as good as the other pitching/batting cards, but this is a nice cheap alternative.

There's bunch of them on ebay, but below is an example of a listing (not mine).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11475727926...UAAOSwJ81gbF69

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by freudianslip

I acquired this on 4/13/18 and it’s been sitting in its card saver ever since...



It’s untouched and extremely likely to Gem in my opinion but I sorta got out of the card game a few months later and moved on to other things.

Obviously, it’s now time to have this thing graded but I crawled out from under my rock a few weeks ago and discovered everything going on with PSA. Looks like it’ll end up costing a small fortune to have it graded once they are taking orders again but what can you do?

Here’s to hoping that Mr. Ohtani continues his meteoric trajectory...

One of his two best autos! That's one where if you're confident it gems, you might suck it up and pay the $300 super express fee. When PSA re-opens, express and below will have a tsunami of demand, and wait.

[Rage]

Originally Posted by omega145

New to the Ohtani train.....anyone have recommendations for cards that have some great images of both him hitting and pitching on the card front? Any rookie cards that have this?

The Project70 Ohtani from Quiccs is very cool and exactly what i'm looking for in terms of card front design but looking for more along the lines of typical card releases from packs.

2018 Bowman Sterling, beautiful card and plenty of shiny parallels

[Rage]

Watched the whole game yesterday, wow what a dominant outing by Shohei, love to see his control starting in the first inning, and so efficient with the pitch count

[BBases31]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

I am clearly an Ohtani optimist, but your body changes drastically into your 30s. His ligament may be fresh, but the overall load on your joints, tendons, and other ligaments are what they are. Asian players do have a track record of longevity, which probably will help, but expecting full time two way duties for more than 5 years is pretty tough. Even Babe Ruth only did it full time for 5 years and he was in his early 20s to start the stretch.

He's a DH. He sits on the bench the entire game except for when he's in the batter box, there's barely any extra load from that. The pitching longevity question is exactly the same as you would ask any other pitcher with a comparable injury history

Anyway, my point was simply to take a step back and put on my "prudent investor" hat and ask what is the minimum requirement for him to elevate to Mount Rushmore status (Trout, Griffey, Pujols, etc).

Less than you'd think. He's probably 3 months away from being more popular and significantly more famous than Trout if he stays on this pace

[Rage]

Originally Posted by BBases31

He's a DH. He sits on the bench the entire game except for when he's in the batter box, there's barely any extra load from that. The pitching longevity question is exactly the same as you would ask any other pitcher with a comparable injury history



Less than you'd think. He's probably 3 months away from being more popular and significantly more famous than Trout if he stays on this pace

He might already be more famous than Trout when including international market...scary to imagine if he keeps this up for a few years

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by BBases31

He's a DH. He sits on the bench the entire game except for when he's in the batter box, there's barely any extra load from that.

You're grossly oversimplifying the training and extra work it takes to do two positions with the same body, but I hope you're right.

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by Philthy

I appreciate Maddon getting creative and putting Ohtani in RF to get another at-bat. However, I feel like he lost the game by not letting Ohtani pitch the 8th. He was at 88 pitches and had been extremely efficient so far esepcially considering he struck out 10. The Angels bullpen is really poor and they should have let Ohtani come out and at least face the first batter in the 8th to see how he faired.

In either case, Ohtani is so fun to watch!

He really is. Watching the Angels now is as thrilling as any other team I can remember (my own memory only going back to the 70s), at least for this point in the season. What a treat!

Of course, all the smart collectors were buying his auto RCs, while I loaded up on his 2013 Japanese RCs, thinking someone might care. What a mistake....

[BigMac]

man i really wish i picked up a heritage auto.. that's really my fave rookie auto other than bca nut i was being too picky wanting a solid auto that i passed on too many in the $500 range in the offseason now probably out of reach, price wise for me.. the heritage couple posts up looks so sweet and nice bold signature which is something i care more than others about

[gabriel]

Originally Posted by omega145

New to the Ohtani train.....anyone have recommendations for cards that have some great images of both him hitting and pitching on the card front? Any rookie cards that have this?

The Project70 Ohtani from Quiccs is very cool and exactly what i'm looking for in terms of card front design but looking for more along the lines of typical card releases from packs.

This one is also a beauty: Bowman Chrome Sterling Continuity from 2018.

[kabrune2]

Originally Posted by BigMac

man i really wish i picked up a heritage auto.. that's really my fave rookie auto other than bca nut i was being too picky wanting a solid auto that i passed on too many in the $500 range in the offseason now probably out of reach, price wise for me.. the heritage couple posts up looks so sweet and nice bold signature which is something i care more than others about

The Bowman Chrome / Topps Flagships / Heritage Autos were out of my price range last year, however I was able to pick up a 2018 Triple Threads White Whale 1/1 for under $250, a 2018 Definitive Purple Auto BGS 9.5 (auto 9) for under $250, and a 2018 Luminaries #/15 Auto for under $200. I still wish I ponied up the cash for a Bowman Chrome, but I can't complain, got 3 autos #'d to 1/1, 1/10, 1/15 for under $700 total.