✹The PERENNIAL Shohei Ohtani Thread✹

[K111]

Originally Posted by BigL7370

It probably does not match it but how does 2024 Ohtani compare to 1998 McGwire / Sosa?

That was a cultural event, this is big but unless you are a baseball fan you don't really care, and the amount of baseball fans have gone down in the last 25 years

[NYBBFAN]

Originally Posted by BigL7370

It probably does not match it but how does 2024 Ohtani compare to 1998 McGwire / Sosa?

I am an Ohtani fan obviously, but Ohtani has captured far less of the country’s attention. A lot of that is due to how we consume media today. But having both guys chasing history (Griffey too for awhile) was unbelievable. Grandmas were in-the-know. It was just a different time.

[gunboat82]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

I don't collect baseball, I don't watch baseball, I know very little about baseball. I know about Shohei Ohtani. I also have nowhere else to ask this question. Is there a connection between home runs and bases stolen I don't understand? Or is the 50/50 milestone two otherwise unconnected statistics in baseball that are individually incredible and, until today, impossible for a player to accomplish together in a single season?

The bolded is pretty much the gist of it. It's very rare for an individual player to have both the power and speed to hit those milestones. When you have the build to hit 50 homeruns, you generally sacrifice the speed. Ohtani might benefit from larger bases and instant replay resulting in fewer phantom tags being called outs, but what he's doing is incredible.

[BobCollects]

Originally Posted by premium1981

Hitters who normally hit 50 HR are big and strong and not fast. Base runners who normally steal 50 bases in a year are speedy players and not that much power. The combination of power and speed at this high of a level has never happened before.

Originally Posted by gunboat82

The bolded is pretty much the gist of it. It's very rare for an individual player to have both the power and speed to hit those milestones. When you have the build to hit 50 homeruns, you generally sacrifice the speed. Ohtani might benefit from larger bases and instant replay resulting in fewer phantom tags being called outs, but what he's doing is incredible.

Thank you both for the explanations. I hadn't considered how physicality plays into making home runs and stealing bases.

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by BigL7370

It probably does not match it but how does 2024 Ohtani compare to 1998 McGwire / Sosa?

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

I am an Ohtani fan obviously, but Ohtani has captured far less of the country’s attention. A lot of that is due to how we consume media today. But having both guys chasing history (Griffey too for awhile) was unbelievable. Grandmas were in-the-know. It was just a different time.

Agreed.

Just to put it into some perspective, I was on the front page of the San Francisco Examiner and got to say some words on our local CBS news station (photo and recording taken at my LCS on 2 separate occasions), both featuring the McGwire/Sosa chase (and one highlighting the 1985 Topps McGwire RCs haha).

There was so much more focus on the HR chase because there wasn't as many (accessible) distractions.

Honestly, it's more timing-related than accomplishment-related. If Ohtani did this pre-2000, probably would've gotten IMMENSE attention.

[NYBBFAN]

There have been 494 instances of players having 50 SB seasons. There have been 50 instances of 50 HR seasons. Ohtani has done both, in the same season. Only Barry Bonds has done both, but in separate seasons.

[Qubits]

Just made my second ever Topps Now order. Last time I got the WBC strike out /49 blue parallel so I fully expect to get absolutely nothing on this one.

[coltsnsox07]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

I am an Ohtani fan obviously, but Ohtani has captured far less of the country’s attention. A lot of that is due to how we consume media today. But having both guys chasing history (Griffey too for awhile) was unbelievable. Grandmas were in-the-know. It was just a different time.

Plus it's West coast, too late for most people. Oh, and it's football season!

[eastbayak]

CloudFlare issues, first time ever having such issues lol

[zworykin]

Originally Posted by gunboat82

The bolded is pretty much the gist of it. It's very rare for an individual player to have both the power and speed to hit those milestones. When you have the build to hit 50 homeruns, you generally sacrifice the speed. Ohtani might benefit from larger bases and instant replay resulting in fewer phantom tags being called outs, but what he's doing is incredible.

Originally Posted by BobCollects

Thank you both for the explanations. I hadn't considered how physicality plays into making home runs and stealing bases.

And also keep in mind that you only get so many plate appearances in a season - and if you hit home runs in 50 of them, that's 50 fewer times that you will be able to get on base and even have an opportunity to steal. Ohtani is going to have just over 700 PAs this year (which is actually very high) - so 50 is a not insignificant portion of that.

[SoCalsFinest]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

How much WAR was today worth? .5?

.5 or .6 I'd guess.


I remember last year in a game he was pitching and hit 2 homers, I think he got .6 bWAR just from that game alone.

[here2havefun]

Originally Posted by Trueblue

How much WAR was today worth? .5?

I took a screenshot of his BR page tonight, so I could see how much his war changes tomorrow lol.

[NYBBFAN]

My last nerd stat: If Ohtani can average 3 bases per game for the rest of the season, he’ll hit that mythical 400 Total Bases. I know that’s a big lift, but still cool that he’s so close.

[redauto5]

Where's Sean tonight? Hopefully furiously listing Ohtani base rookies at insane prices so he can pick up a big Sho in the off-season. Did he end up grading his huge stack of base?

This is your dream scenario regardless buddy! Insane demand. Take advantage, you are well positioned!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[al3xmac10]

what a flurry of $10k++ sales

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by redauto5

Where's Sean tonight? Hopefully furiously listing Ohtani base rookies at insane prices so he can pick up a big Sho in the off-season. Did he end up grading his huge stack of base?

This is your dream scenario regardless buddy! Insane demand. Take advantage, you are well positioned!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Hahaha! You're spot on though.

[imbluestreak23]

If Sho was popping in the DMs of Americas IG sluts, he’d definitely be more “popular” with our culture for sure

[JWBlue]

Base rookies raw are going to be $100 next season

[Bcr]

These prices are definitely inflated from the hype but the floor has also risen IMO. I still have my eyes on two cards for the offseason. If the Dodgers win the WS though, God help us all!

[Hollywood42]

I wholeheartedly believe Shohei is the best baseball player we will ever see in our lifetimes, and it's not going to be close

[beavers]

Originally Posted by K111

I am actually surprised to see so many on ebay, usually teams have the mobile ticketing now and regular tickets are a rare thing

Most of the listings are from just a few sellers. I messaged with one guy who had 20 season tickets for his business and another guy who had 24 from a group of friends who were there from LA. My guess is that they dry up rather quickly. I agree, most tickets are mobile these days.

I’m a big event specific collector so it’s must have.

Now to figure out how to get them autographed ��

[Twalk1975]

Originally Posted by SoCalsFinest

.5 or .6 I'd guess.


I remember last year in a game he was pitching and hit 2 homers, I think he got .6 bWAR just from that game alone.

Saw it posted on r/baseball that he got 0.7109 fwar today, which just beats out Shawn Green's 0.7106 for most in one game.

[ScooterMcRibs]

Hitting homers off a 1B when the game is already over to pad your stats? That will not win him MVP votes.

This is why WAR is a bogus stat. A HR against a pitching 1B when you're up by 10 runs is worth EXACTLY 0 wins over replacement. WARetards need to get it through their thick skulls.

[BabaORiley]

2 underrated moments from the game that I want to put down for the sake of posterity because that game had a weird magic to it. Tough to pin down but it transcended baseball, at least for me...

1) Announcers talking about how polite Ohtani was, what a nice guy and then in his last AB, Sho steps out of the box because he sees the batboy still isn't completely out of harm's way.

2) The entire announcing sequence of them openly pining for one last Ohtani AB and then openly cheering when Taylor got a knock. Also, kudos to Taylor for being clutch with that. Turned an historic day into an unforgettable one. And then, on HR 51 Joe Davis's "Oh My Gosh, Shohei Ohtani... The greatest day in baseball history."

3) I know we all can recite his line from the game but just go take a peak at it on ESPN. It looks like a line from MLB The Show when playing on the easy settings.

[imbluestreak23]

Originally Posted by ScooterMcRibs

Hitting homers off a 1B when the game is already over to pad your stats? That will not win him MVP votes.

This is why WAR is a bogus stat. A HR against a pitching 1B when you're up by 10 runs is worth EXACTLY 0 wins over replacement. WARetards need to get it through their thick skulls.

Your clients prefer 51HR over 50HR tho