Episode 2413
Shohei Ohtani
Mon, 2023-Dec-11 01:23 UTC
Length - 3:54
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 275,458 views on Sunday, 10 December 2023 our article of the day is Shohei Ohtani.
Shohei Ohtani (大谷 翔平, Ōtani Shōhei, born July 5, 1994), nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and designated hitter who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels and for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League. Widely acclaimed for his skill in both pitching and batting, he has been compared to two-way players such as Babe Ruth and Bullet Rogan, although such comparisons draw debate given the difference in era and overall ability of modern players. Considered early on as an elite two-way player, Ohtani was the first pick of the Fighters in the 2012 draft. He played in NPB for the Fighters from 2013 through 2017 as a pitcher and an outfielder, and won the 2016 Japan Series with them. The Fighters posted Ohtani to MLB after the 2017 season, and he signed with the Angels, soon winning the 2018 American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award.
Following an injury-plagued 2019 and 2020, Ohtani would go on to have a 2021 season widely considered to be historic, as he became the first in the history of MLB with 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases as a hitter and 100+ strikeouts and 10+ pitching appearances as a pitcher in the same season while also holding at least a share of the major league lead in home runs in 14 starts. Because of his elite contributions both offensively and as a pitcher, a rarity for two-way players, Ohtani's peak is widely considered among the greatest in baseball history, with some comparing it favorably to the early career of Babe Ruth. For his efforts, he was awarded the 2021 American League Most Valuable Player Award. He followed this in 2022 by becoming the first player in the modern era to qualify for both the hitting and pitching leaderboards in one season, reaching the thresholds of 3.1 plate appearances and one inning pitched per game with 586 at bats and 166 innings pitched. Ohtani completed yet another historic campaign in 2023, becoming the first player in MLB history with 10 wins and 40 home runs in a season, the first Japanese-born player to win a major league home run title, leading the American League with 44 home runs, the first player in MLB history to be a unanimous MVP twice and the first Japanese player to have the most popular Major League Baseball jersey sales. Internationally, Ohtani represented Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, winning the MVP Award for the tournament following Team Japan's victory over Team USA. The final game was one of the most-watched baseball games in history, culminating with Ohtani striking out Angels teammate and Team USA captain Mike Trout on a full count, securing a 3–2 win and Team Japan's third title.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:23 UTC on Monday, 11 December 2023.
For the full current version of the article, see Shohei Ohtani on Wikipedia.
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Until next time, I'm Amy Neural.
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