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Shohei Ohtani will be playing in his sixth Major League Baseball season in 2023. So far, his trying to be both a top level pitcher as well as a threat as a batter has worked out pretty well.
Ohtani has been AL Rookie of the Year, won an MVP Award, and finished second in MVP voting in another season. In fact, the season he finished second in AL MVP voting (last year) he also finished fourth in the Cy Yound Award voting.
His 162 game average for his first five years is 36 HR, 98 RBI, 19 SB, 15 Wins, 238 K, and a 2.96 ERA.
In the just completed World Baseball Classic, in which he was named the MVP, Shohei Ohtani batted .435 with a .606 on-base percentage, drove in eight runs in seven games, went 2-0 on the mound with a 1.86 ERA, a 0.72 WHIP and saved the tournament clinching game by striking out his Angels teammate Mike Trout.
Mike Trout on the Shohei Ohtani matchup:
"He won Round 1.''— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 22, 2023
In other words, the Shohei Ohtani “experiment” that started in 2018 has been a resounding success.
Give Ohtani a billion dollars. Mythical unicorn god on the baseball field!
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) March 22, 2023
After Japan’s win over the United States in the World Baseball Classic Tuesday night, the internet, because it never, ever forgets and absolutely loves nothing more than a freezing cold take, took aim at former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann.
Why would baseball fans bring Olbermann up in the wake of one of the greatest games in baseball history?
Well…
Because that Christian Bethancourt thing worked soooo well.
Ohtani will be a pinch-hitting pitcher by mid-season. https://t.co/jKN6981cBm
— Keith Olbermann⌚️ (@KeithOlbermann) March 7, 2018
Whoops.
(For the record, Christian Bethancourt has hit .234 with 19 home runs and pitched 9.1 innings over six years in the big leagues.)
Ohtani, on the other hand…
Ohtani in the 2023 WBC:
- hardest-hit + T-2nd-hardest hit batted balls of the tournament: 118.7 mph, 115.4 mph
- tied for fastest-thrown pitch of tournament: 102.0 mph
.435/.606/.739, 5 XBH, 8 RBI
9 2/3 IP, 2 R (1.86 ERA), 11 K, 1 Save https://t.co/KAwP0yHuLQ
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 22, 2023
Ok, one more time. https://t.co/u7tQsftYqy
— Christopher Crawford (@Crawford_MILB) March 22, 2023
https://t.co/sag9lRsRv3 pic.twitter.com/kCbKEwmN94
— Uncle Rico (@Uncle_____Rico) March 22, 2023
“The comments here are wild, so many different points in time since the original post where people came back to dunk on this clown,” someone else tweeted, and they weren’t wrong. Over the past five-plus years, this Keith Olbermann tweet has been revisited again and again by baseball fans.
And another whiff by Keith. https://t.co/YpyxRUAkBb
— kyle (@godawgs4) March 22, 2023
Amazed this hasn’t been deleted yet https://t.co/7yrIj3Byhp
— B-L-M, Anthony is a bully, Dante Exum fan account (@advancedstats23) March 22, 2023
“I do appreciate Olbermann’s commitment to the bit for his entire career because if had just kept his Twitter fingers holstered, nobody would’ve thought to find this. Always the words and/or the mouth finding him trouble,” another fan tweeted Tuesday night.
“Tip of the cap, KO.”