And the Hype Goes On

 

Even worse than the general Fox/MLB All-Star extravaganza, though, was the continued hyping of The Anointed One.

The home run derby on Monday turned into an out-and-out paean to Shohei Ohtani who, we were told over and over again in increasingly breathless tones, had recently driven in 8 runs in one game, then struck out 13 batters in the next!

"Has there EVER been anything like that? There has NEVER been anything like that!" the Fox Box and ESPN twits rushed to assure us, in between Big Papi's clowning and the ceaseless promotions of gambling.

Well, yes, actually, there have been things "like" that. There just has never been anything that is EXACTLY that. Which is different.

Later, we were told even more breathlessly that Ohtani—spoiler alert!—had just won the Espy for baseball player of the year! A remarkable accomplishment—considering that the baseball "year" is only half-done, and that Mr. Ohtani and all of his Angels teammates are likely to have been a month on the links by the time it is over.

The ESPN guys then polled themselves: "Have you ever seen anyone like Ohtani?"

They allowed that they had not. Tim Kurkjian even made sure to tell us that he had seen Willie Mays play,  

and nonetheless, there was no one like Ohtani!

Oh, Tim.

Fact of the matter is, Willie Mays was considered to have the best arm anyone had ever seen as a high schooler. His father, a top semi-pro called "Kitty-Cat" Mays, insisted he give up the mound, for fear of ruining that great arm.

Kitty-Cat was a wise man. Because back in the day, they didn't have the sort of Tommy John surgery that saved Ohtani's pitching career two years ago. 

There are many, many examples of this sort of thing. 

Lou Gehrig was apparently also a top pitcher in college, but nobody was going to risk the arm of a hitter that good in the pros. Red Ruffing was a helluva hitter—but without the DH, he wasn't going to see action more than once every four days or so on the 1930s-'40s Yankees.

Look, Shohei Ohtani is a fine, fine ballplayer. But if Babe Ruth had been able to pitch 6 innings, once a week, against teams full of guys doing nothing but swinging for the fences—and spend the rest of his time DHing...he would have retired undefeated. And with about 2,000 home runs.

The Ohtani hyping continued into the All-Star Game—even though, as in most big moments, somehow Mr. Two-Way was not required to throw a single pitch. It peaked when he singled off Kershaw...then died when he promptly got picked off first.

Funny. I don't remember Willie Mays ever doing THAT in an All-Star Game, either.