Is Shohei Ohtani’s career over?

Is Pete now living in a van down by the river?

Bullsh7t.

I'm a huge Reds fan. Pete was my favorite player. If anything, I was way biased in his favor. But watching him manage the team in 1987, it became obvious that something was way wrong. Silly pitching changes. Reverse platoons. Getting players DQed for batting out-of-order for having brought the wrong line-up card to the plate - two times in one series. No chance he wasn't throwing games. None. Even if he didn't bed on the Reds to lose those, he was in hock to people who did.

The MLB isn't the one investigating. It's a federal case involving the bookie.

Career? His life is over.

Not anymore. MLB released this statement earlier today:

“Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned
about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from
the news media. Earlier today, our
Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process
investigating the matter.”

And the The IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office is investigating both Mizuhara and the bookie, Matthew Bowyer.

Looks like his career is on a steep upwards trajectory to me.

Poor Flagpole.

Yeah

si.com

Dodgers Players React to Shohei Ohtani's 'Absurd' Home Run

Ricardo Klein

Multiple Dodger players couldn’t help but be in awe of Shohei Ohtani’s insane home run against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Link:www.si.com/mlb/dodgers/dodgers-players...

No poor Flagpole. I would LOVE to see him hit 40+ HRs until he's 40. I would love to see him win 20 games several times as a pitcher. He won't though. He's not even pitching this year.

He has had 3 good years so far. Good for him. He will turn 30 in July. MOST power hitters who don't cheat fall off a cliff by age 35. He doesn't even have 200 HRs yet. Time is not on his side to end up with Hall of Fame career numbers, and the thing that makes him extra special...hitting AND pitching is shelved this year. He has a career .278 batting average. He doesn't even have 500 RBIs yet, and as a pitcher he has 38 wins.

He's very good as a snapshot in time, but the hyperbole about him is over the top.

He doesn’t have to hit close to 40 hr a year for 10 years to make him a HOF lock. If he averages that until 35 he’ll be in first ballot. Right now only 57 people have hit 400hr, also you need evidence for the made up claim about hitters falling off a cliff @35. Ruth hit 41hrs when he was 37. Carlin Fisk hit 193 home runs (over half his career total) after turning 35. Even if he stops completely @35 and only hits 25/year until then he’ll still be well over 300 to go with his 2 mvps (which only 33 people have done).

HOF lock.

Both the Japanese and Norwegians have great athletes and great scientists / inventions. I wonder how much DNA they share.

>>but the hyperbole about him is over the top.

It's almost impossible to be over the top because what he has done already would been considered so ridiculous it would be stretch even a movie just 10 years.

The amount of time, training, attention to detail and throwing skill to become a Cy Young candidate level pitcher is extraordinary. From what we had seen, you would have to dedicate your life to just that to reach that level.

The amount of time, training, attention to detail and hitting skill to become a MVP candidate (and winner) level batter is extraordinary. From what we had seen, you would have to dedicate your life to just that to reach that level.

The idea of being able to do both at the *SAME TIME* seems like the plot of a silly movie by someone who doesn't know baseball very well. It seemed absolutely impossible at this point in time (the talent pool is substantially better and deeper than in Ruth's time).

He may be considered the greatest baseball of all time shortly, not because of career totals, but because he can play in a way, and affect the game, like nobody else. It's not close.

Many baseball analysts have said a similar thing, "He is the only player in MLB history for which there is no comparable player."

It is hard to overstate that. What other player in any sport can you say that about?

Over?

119 MPH says otherwise

I think there's a possibility the interpreter may be the fall guy for Obtani in some capacity. Interpreter was still around the team on opening day when everyone already knew the story was about to break, highly suspicious (if they knew he stole money they wouldn't let him on stadium). And the most deamning red flag is them claiming the low paid interpreter was allowed to run up a 4.5 million$ debt without yet paying it off to the gambling bookie. But anyways, the Dodger have Mookie BETTS, so it all makes sense.

OMG

There are exceptions. Not falling off a cliff after age 35 is an exception.

Evidence? Ok. These players fell off a cliff after the season in which they turned 35 or before.

Dale Murphy, the most relevant one here with two MVPs fell off a cliff after age 32.

Don Mattingly

David Wright

Adam Dunn (who had 462 HRs and was done by age 34).

Nomar Garciaparra

George Foster

Chris Davis

Matt Williams

Michael Young

Willie Mays never hit more than 28 HRs after age 35

Mickey Mantle fell off a cliff at age 33

Jimmie Fox fell off a cliff at age 33

Willie McCovey never hit 30 or more HRs after age 32

Harmon Killebrew

Eddie Matthews fell off a cliff after age 33

Miguel Cabrera fell off a cliff after age 33

Mel Ott

Lou Gehrig (special circumstance there of course)

Andruw Jones

Jose Canseco

Jeff Bagwell

Vladimir Guerrero

Mike Piazza fell off a cliff after after age 33

Billy Williams after age 34

Juan Gonzales fell off a cliff after age 33

Mark Teixeira

Duke Snider fell off a cliff after age 30

Giancarlo Stanton unless he gets better fell off a cliff after age 32

Al Kaline fell off a cliff after age 34

Jim Edmonds

Graig Nettles after age 34

Johnny Bench after age 29

Aramis Ramirez after age 34

Larry Walker

Frank Howard after age 34

Ryan Howard after age 31

Jim Rice after age 33

Albert Belle out of baseball at age 33

Orlando Cepeda after age 32

Tony Perez

Rocky Colativo after age 32

Gil Hodges

Todd Helton

Ralph Kiner out of baseball ar ager 32

Lance Berkman

Joe Dimaggio and then was out of baseball after the season in which he turned 36

Johnny Mize

Yogi Berra after age 34

Carlos Lee fell off a cliff after age 34

Greg Vaughn

Luis Gonzalez

Lee May

Ryan Braun after age 30

Dick Allen after age 32

Jose Bautista after age 34

Curtis Granderson

Evan Longoria after age 30

Ron Santo out of baseball after season in which he turned 34

Jack Clark

Tino Martinez fell off a cliff after age 34

Boog Powell after age 33

That's probably enough. It is really rare for a MLB player (especially HR hitters) to have a career average year after age 35, and many of then fall off before that.

Nope. It's over the top. People calling him the next Babe Ruth. People calling him the best baseball player ever. Nah.

Just because there is no comparable player doesn't make that equal greatness. No comparable player to Jim Abbott either (at least not that I'm aware of).

Facts:

Ohtani has a .278 career batting average. Yawn.

He has 38 pitching wins. Yawn.

He has 451 career RBIs. Ok, but he's a LONG way from have a good stat there.

Last year he broke down at the end of the year and ended up only playing in 135 games.

He will turn 30 in July. This is really his biggest problem. Age is against him, and a LOT of power hitters start to suck by age 35 or before.

Due to injury he can't pitch this year.

Elly De La Cruz on the Cincinnati Reds has more HRs and RBIs this year so far than Ohtani does.

If he's lucky, Ohtani will probably finish his career with about 350 HRs and fewer than 100 wins as a pitcher. His batting average will probably be less than his current career average of .278...UNLESS he starts using PEDs. I don't see those as Hall of Fame stats, especially since he's not really playing in the field...just a DH this year.

I hope he proves me wrong. He won't though.

Baseball is competed every year, and every year is separate. Career totals are nothing more than that. Career totals. Just playing 30 years of serviceable baseball does not mean greatness in any way, except in career totals.

What matters is how great and unique his individual seasons have been. A better measure would be who in certain eras has the highest WAR seasons (trying to measure how much he contributes to his team meaning). You may think WAR is arbitrary, but use any stat you like.

This is the way real baseball people think. Many people who understand the game think Sandy Koufax is greatest pitcher ever. By career standards, he is nothing special (only 165 career wins), but he had a 5 year run where the best pitcher in the game by far. Koufax is the only pitcher to finish first in the Majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts in the same season three different times.

Several great seasons and nothing more shows much more greatness than a long good career. And Ohtani has already had a few years which likely no one will ever duplicate. He will be in the discussion for greatest ever shortly, just like Koufax.

Yet he's leading the league in OPS, hits and Avg .371 without pitching.

He's transformed his batting, and his at bats improve every match. The guy is dedication personified.

Rose was a piece of sh!t.