GAME CHANGER

ONCE IN A WHILE AN ATHLETE COMES ALONG WHO FORCES US TO RETHINK EVERYTHING. LIKE SHOHEI OHTANI, THE TWO-WAY SENSATION WHO IS ONE OF BASEBALL'S BEST PITCHERS AND ONE OF THE BEST HITTERS. HE REMINDS US WHAT BASEBALL USED TO BE AND SHOWS US WHAT IT MIGHT SOMEHOW BECOME.

- DANIEL RILEY

IT BEGINS AT once. In the very first inning of his very first start last season, Shohei Ohtani does the thing that now distinguishes him among, frankly, all baseball players ever. In the top half of the inning, Ohtanithe-pitcher eases his way into 2021 with a few 100-plus mph (160-plus kph) fastballs and three quick outs. Then, in the bottom half, Ohtani-the-hitter launches the first pitch he sees 451 feet into the right field bleachers, becoming the first starting pitcher to homer in an American League (AL) game since 1972. In just half an hour, then, the full breadth of the spectacle of Major League Baseball’s first pitching-and-hitting two-way phenom since Babe Ruth.