Major League Baseball enthusiastic about the Advent of Babe Ruth.
In the early days of baseball, the ball’s repulsion was low and home runs were not good. The average number of home runs per game in the Major League was 0.12 in 1918. The team with the most home runs hit by St. Louis, with only 27 homers overall. It was hard to imagine now.파워볼사이트
In such a major league, a monster player who hit more home runs than the St. Louis team’s home runs the following year appeared. It was Babe Ruth. In 1919, Ruth hit 29 home runs alone. At that time, he hit more home runs than 10 out of 16 Major League teams. Gabi Kruvath, who was the only 20-home run hitter in the Major League, had 12 records in which he ranked second in home runs at the time, so one can guess how enormous Ruth’s record was.
Shōhei Otani, Japan’s Babe Ruth, takes over the Big League.
After learning that people were crazy about home runs, the Major League grew the power of the ball in 1920. Ruth then exploded with 54 home runs. More double-digit home run hitters than before, but George Sisler, the second-ranked home run after Ruth, had home runs. So Ruth became the god of baseball.
Ruth’s share of Major League history is indescribable. There are even people who regard Ruth’s record as a sacrosanct territory. Besides Ruth, there were great players, but no one exceeded Ruth’s symbolism. In Major League Baseball, Babe Ruth is like a myth. However, there is a player who was compared to Ruth even before entering the Major League. Shohei Otani, 27, currently dominating the Major League.
Otani was already called Babe Ruth in Japan. Ruth was also a pitcher before switching to batting. Ruth concentrated on batting in earnest after moving to the New York Yankees in 1920. Ruth, who won consecutive home run titles in 1918 and 1919, had a record of 13 wins, 7 losses and 2.22 ERA in 1918 and 9 wins, 5 losses and 2.97 (1919). Some said, “If Ruth remained a pitcher, he would have entered the Hall of Fame.”
Otani also played both pitchers and batters in Japan. In 2016, he showed outstanding performance in both two-hitter games like Ruth (10 wins, 4 losses and 1.86 batting average in 21 games, 0.322 22 home runs in 104 games). Otani said, “I will play both pitchers and batters,” when he entered the Major League after the 2017 season. The Los Angeles Angels, which recruited Otani, also readily supported Otani’s challenge. In fact, Otani won the Rookie of the Year award by playing as a pitcher and batter in 2018, his first year in the Major League.
Otani successfully landed in the Major League. However, there was a mixed reaction over the two-shot job. In 2018, Otani pitched only 51.2 innings as a pitcher due to an elbow injury. It was surprising that a professional batter threw 50 innings on the mound, but as a starting pitcher, his ability to play innings dropped significantly. He failed to take the mound in 2019 as he underwent Tommy John surgery. In 2020, when he returned to pitching, he allowed seven runs in 1.2 innings in two games, and Otani was no longer seen. It was natural that public opinion on the combination of pitching and batting had changed skeptically.
All-Star pitcher and batter all-For the first time in Major League history.
Despite the dissuasion, Otani continued his career as a two-shot hitter. Instead, more than doubled efforts were made to compensate for the shortcomings. He visited the “Driveline Baseball,” which provides the best mechanical function according to the player’s physical condition, to find and improve problems. In the process, he corrected the wrong habit of shaking his hind feet when hitting. He also exercised intensive physical strength not to repeat the half-season.
Otani appeared at the spring camp with a different physique. He also re-released his specialty, “100-mile ball” and “100-mile batting.” Otani, who recovered the quality of his arrest and batting, played very well in Tutta. He was not satisfied with his return to 2018, but achieved even more remarkable results with improved performance. He has been revived as a perfect two-shot player.
In the first half of this season, Otani, who flew high from two batters, was selected as both a pitcher and a batter in the All-Star game. It was the first time in Major League history. Otani, who even played in the home run derby, became a winning pitcher in the American League at the All-Star Game. It was truly an all-star game for Otani, by Otani, for Otani.
Otani, who broke Hideki Matsui’s Asian record (31 home runs) in 2004, is challenging for the overall home run king of the Major League this year. The home run pace is slightly slowing in the second half of the year, but 50 home runs are possible if he shows a strong performance.
Otani, in particular, is making progress as a pitcher. Although there were ups and downs in control at the beginning of the season, control is becoming more sophisticated as the season progresses. Otani has always had a lot of walks, and since June, the number of walks per nine innings has been 2.10 (1.13 walks per nine innings in the last five games). As the power of the ball is revived, the slugging allowance is suppressed as much as possible. Currently, his batting average of 0.308 is the lowest among American League pitchers who have pitched more than 90 innings. For your information, Otani ranks first overall with a batting average of 0.647.
One of the indicators that has been actively used in Major League Baseball is its contribution to victory. This is an indicator of how many teams have contributed to the victory of the player compared to the substitute player in the league. According to his contribution to winning the “Baseball Reference,” Otani is posting 3.4 as a pitcher and 4.1 as a batter. The total of 7.5 is the highest in Major League Baseball.
This year, Otani is reminiscent of Babe Ruth from 1918-19. Sports Illustrated, a U.S. sports media outlet, said that Otani is having a greater season than Ruth in the past. Even though the season is still left, the American League MVP is already won by Otani. Another candidate, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, said, “It will be the most unlucky MVP.”
In 2001, Ichiro Suzuki won both the Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first year in the Major League. It was the only MVP season for a Japanese player. Twenty years later, Otani is aiming for his second MVP season in Japan. Otani’s special weapon is his pitching and batting skills, which he has stuck to without giving up.