Last night the Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League pennant against the Milwaukee Brewers (the best team in baseball), guaranteeing the Dodgers a spot in the World Series. They won the Series last year, too, but the performance of the team’s star player last night, the inimitable Shohei Ohtani, may have been the greatest single-game performance of any individual player in history. For Ohtani didn’t just hit three home runs (the game was won 5-0, with Ohtani’s second home run being the longest ever hit in Dogers Stadium), but also pitched six shutout innings and struck out out ten batters, so the pitching win went to him. I’ve never seen anything to match this. The Dodgers won four straight games in the 7-game series, shutting the Brewers out completely. (The American league championship has yet to be decided.)
If you know baseball, you know that pitchers are almost invariably poor hitters (you can’t practice both), but Ohtani is a huge exception: he excels at both. (So did Babe Ruth, but he gave up pitching and never turned in a performance anything like that Ohtani last night. Ohtani has been been Rookie of the Year, as well as Most Valuable Player three times. Last year an arm injury kept him from pitching (he’s often been plagued by injuries), but he nevertheless excelled in hitting and in base stealing (he’s also fast on the basepaths), hitting 54 homes runs and stealing 59 bases, making him the only player in major league history to reach that 50:50 mark in one season.
Ohtani was born in Japan, excelled there, and then decided to come to the Big Show in the U.S. He’s only 31 and so has at least 6 or 7 superb years in him. I’ll put a summary video below (watch quickly before MLB takes it down), and here’s the NYT’s summary of his performance last night:
It isn’t supposed to be easy. It is designed at its most fundamental level to humble and to abase—to constantly remind even its greatest practitioners that this game is ultimately an exercise in failure.
But the things Shohei Ohtani does on the field are so astonishing that they make you wonder if everything you thought you knew about baseball for the last century and a half was wrong. He has redefined what was thought possible in a sport that appeared to have no more secrets.
Ohtani isn’t just the most talented player on the planet. He is likely the most talented player in history. And on Friday, Shohei Ohtani delivered the performance that will define him.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series for the second consecutive season because Ohtani carried them there with a box score that defies belief. On the mound, he dominated the Milwaukee Brewers over six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 10. At the plate, he blasted three home runs that traveled a combined 1,342 feet, transforming Dodger Stadium into his own personal launchpad.
By the time the final out had been recorded, the fact that the Dodgers had clinched yet another pennant was practically an afterthought. Everyone was still too dumbstruck by what they had witnessed from Ohtani: perhaps the single greatest individual game ever played.
“No one’s ever seen something like this,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m still in awe right now of Shohei.”
Have a look at the highlights:
How much does Ohtani make? Well, right now he’s getting only $2 million per year, but his contact was for $700 million, and of course he makes a ton off the field: (bolding is the site’s):
In 2025, Ohtani isn’t just rewriting baseball’s record books. He’s redefining what it means to be a global sports icon. Shohei Ohtani is expected to earn $102 million this year, but only $2 million of that will come from his actual MLB salary. The other $100 million? All from endorsements.
Whyt Shohei Ohtani’s salary is so low–and what it means.
Ohtani signed a groundbreaking $700 million deal with the Dodgers, but its unique structure defers the vast majority of his salary. He’ll receive just $2 million annually during the 10-year contract, with $68 million per year kicking in after that.
What does his earnings amount to on an hourly basis? This is from one source (their bolding):
Currently, Ohtani makes an estimated $65 million a year in endorsement deals. That figure can rise or fall, but you have to think that it will do a bit of both. Rise for the next few years, and then fall off as his career winds up toward retirement.
For the sake of argument, let’s take the current figures as the baseline for the next ten years. In fact, these numbers will not likely vary too much, because when his endorsements will presumably fall off after retirement, that $68 million back end payment will make up for it. So in broad strokes, this is a decent guide for Shohei’s earnings for the rest of his working career.
In that case, Ohtani will have an income of $67 million per year all total.
If he were to be paid per game, that would be $413,580 per game in the regular season. Spring training and post season would not be included in this figure.
In our own lives, we tend to get paid weekly or monthly, so for comparison, Ohtani will take home $1,288,461 per week, or $5,583,333 per calendar month.
Yes. He is probably the best player of all time, and yesterday’s performance may have been the best performance by a player of all time.
And, the Seattle Mariners won yesterday’s contest against the Blue Jays. The Mariners have never been to the World Series. This may be the year! Seattleites have been saying that since 1977, and especially since 1995. Mariner ads still include footage from the storied 1995 season. But this may be the year we get to retire those old 1995 clips!
Agreed best individual performance in forever by Ohtani. But arguably not the most exciting baseball game played last night.
And maybe none of Ohtani’s homers was the most impressive home run of the night either. Cal Raleigh is a switch-hitting catcher who plays every day, hits homers from both sides of the plate, and tied the game 2-2 with an 8th-inning solo homer last night (it was the first time in 5 games he hit right-handed). And his teammate Eugenio Suárez hit an opposite-field grand slam in the same inning to win it.
Raleigh also has the best nickname (“Big Dumper”).
As a Wisconsinite, I give him the props. It hurt, though.
Ohtani’s performance last night was one of those singular sports days that will still be talked about 50+ years from now.
For the record, though, the Dodgers won the game 5-1, as the Brewers scored a late-inning run. And while Ohtani’s second home run was massive, I think they said it was not considered the longest, that honor belonging to Giancarlo Stanton’s at 475ft.
My mistake(s), thanks.
Thanks for this story! I’ve mostly stopped keeping up with baseball, but I still love stories about amazing feats of athleticism, and this is one for the ages!! Astounding.
PS The top comment on Youtube is:
As a UK man I have to compare this with cricket. Someone who can bowl [pitch] and bat is an absolute godsend for a team. They aren’t uncommon but a great one is as rare as hen’s teeth. They can turn matches, win lost games (Botham/Stokes both English players), destroy the confidence of the opposition. The greatest of all time was a West Indian player, Gary Sobers ( now, rightly, Sir Garfield ) who was awesome in the 1960s and 70s.
If you have one in baseball then hang on to him!
Yes Stokes is English, although he was born in Christchurch to New Zealand parents 🙂
And yes Stokes is a fantastic player and as a leader achieved something that Botham did not: Ian Botham was not a successful captain. But after he was removed from the captaincy following the second Ashes test in 1981… 🙂
When England beat New Zealand to win the World Cup in 2019, I wondered if Stokes might would be named New Zealander of the Year. According to the BBC he was nominated: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/49042726
Mike Brearely, who was recalled as captain to replace Botham in 1981, was a very successful captain but a terrible batsman. But Brearely never captained England against the West Indies — easy to be a good captain if you don’t play against the 80s Windies.
Certainly the best post season performance of all time. The only competition I can think of would be Larsen’s perfect game.
But Larsen couldn’t hit!
Thanks. Unbelievable. I wish our dear and late friend, Kenny King, were still alive to see this guy. He woulda’ loved it!
Move over Willie!