Once Shohei Ohtani homered for the third time — shortly after wrapping up his six scoreless innings on the mound — the superlatives began in earnest.
Best baseball performance of all time?
Best sports performance, period?
Pinnacle of overall human achievement?
That last one is perhaps over the top, but the first two questions are worth exploring. In Game 4 of the NL Championship Series on Friday night, Ohtani became the third player ever to hit three homers in a game in which he was a starting pitcher. He also become the only person since at least 1906 to reach double digits in both total bases at the plate (12) and strikeouts on the mound (10).
To put his performance in more simplistic terms: There are three main components to baseball — pitching, hitting and fielding. Ohtani pitched for two-thirds of the game and allowed the fewest runs possible. He had four opportunities at the plate and did the best thing possible in three of them. The other was a walk.
It would have been hard for him to do any better unless he pitched more innings — or maybe played in the outfield and robbed a couple homers.
When Don Larsen threw his perfect game for the New York Yankees during the 1956 World Series, he dominated on the mound only. And it wasn’t for lack of opportunity. He went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice at the plate that day, according to Baseball Reference.
Shohei Ohtani hit not one, not two but three home runs in the deciding Game 4 of the NLCS. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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As baseball has evolved, good pitching and good hitting have become mutually exclusive. It’s simply too hard for one player to excel at both at the big league level. Or so we thought. Then Ohtani came along.
Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in a game. Carli Lloyd had a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of a World Cup final. Secretariat’s 31-length win at the Belmont was so jaw dropping even non-horse racing fans can understand the enormity of it. You could argue those three — or even Larsen — were more dominant on those days than Ohtani. But their performances didn’t combine two increasingly incompatible skills in such a wondrous way.
What’s comparable?
Bill Russell once had 30 points and 40 rebounds in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — but again, there’s always been a fair amount of overlap between great scorers and great rebounders. There was a time when big men stayed around the basket and guards shot jumpers, but now even centers can shoot 3-pointers and rack up assists. In basketball, that versatility is expected.
In the NFL, passing and running are distinct skills, but plenty of players possess both. Colin Kaepernick threw for 263 yards and ran for 181 in a 2013 playoff game. Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes have both surpassed 500 yards passing plus running in a game, but the fact that multiple players have done it makes it less of a novelty.
The reverse — a great running back who also throws — is less common. Darren McFadden was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist at Arkansas, dominating games on the ground while also taking snaps at quarterback in the Wildcat formation. He once tied an SEC record with 321 yards rushing in a game — and also threw a TD pass that night.
Walter Payton rushed for 161 yards in a 1983 game and also threw for two TDs.
Ohtani was as sharp on the mound as he was dangerous at the plate, striking out 10 Brewers over 6 scoreless innings. (Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
But the real analogy to Ohtani in football is a player who contributes on offense and defense, and those went out of style about 65 years ago. Travis Hunter won the Heisman last year for his work at receiver and defensive back, and perhaps he’ll produce an Ohtani-like game for the Jacksonville Jaguars at some point. In 1997 against Ohio State, Michigan’s Charles Woodson caught a 37-yard pass to set up a touchdown, returned a punt 78 yards for a TD and intercepted a pass in the end zone. Even in that game, though, Woodson wasn’t touching the ball that much. Does it really compare to Ohtani pitching six innings?
In football’s earlier days, offensive players would sometimes handle kicking duties as well. In 1929, Ernie Nevers scored six touchdowns and kicked four extra points in the Cardinals‘ 40-6 win over the Bears. His 40 points individually are an NFL record that still stands.
As recently as 1970, 43-year-old George Blanda threw a game-tying touchdown pass, then kicked a 52-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Raiders a victory over the Browns.
Back to baseball
It’s probably easier to compare Ohtani to other baseball performances. The two previous pitchers with three-homer games were Jim Tobin with the Boston Braves in 1942 and Guy Hecker with the Louisville Cardinals in 1886. Both pitchers allowed five runs in complete-game victories.
Perhaps the closest feat to Ohtani’s came in 1971, when Rick Wise of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against Cincinnati while also hitting two homers. Although it wasn’t a postseason game, Wise is one player with a legitimate case to have bested Ohtani’s effort last week.
And later in that 1971 season, Wise pitched a 12-inning complete game — retiring 32 batters in a row at one point — and won the contest himself with a walk-off hit.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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