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Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese baseball player currently playing for the LA Angels. If you have no idea who this is, that's totally understandable. Until I started really watching baseball this year I also had no idea. However, now that I know, I feel like everyone should be aware of how incredible this man is.
Whether you watch baseball or not, one name you most likely associate with the sport is Babe Ruth. He was a legendary player back in the early 1900's who set a bunch of records and did things on the field that no one has been able to replicate. That is, until Shohei Ohtani. That's be because Ohtani is an both an elite pitcher AND an elite batter. That doesn't happen in baseball. Elite pitchers stick to pitching, only picking up the bat if they must, and with the recent rule changes allowing teams to replace pitchers with another batter when they're up to bat, now they never pick up the bat. And batters don't pitch. They might throw as hard as they can to another fielder to get a runner out, but that's the beginning and end of it.
Ohtani is so unique in his ability to be elite on both sides of the ball, Major League Baseball created a roster rule SPECIFICALLY FOR HIM so that he can play both sides by counting as two different players. You know you're in elite company when the league has to change the rules for you.
Oh, and did I mention that he's also an elite athlete who can run between bases as fast as some of the best baserunners in the league? This guy is an a machine.
No other player in the league can throw pitches 100mph and hit 30 home runs. It's just unheard of. And in terms of his pitching alone, his 'stuff' is ridiculous. He can throw a slider at 89mph (really, really fast), then just unload for a fastball down the middle at 100mph (really, really, really fast).
Unless you understand some of the basics of baseball, it's hard to describe in words how unprecedented Ohtani is. I think the only way to truly understand is to watch for yourself. He's a once-in-a-generation athlete, and I truly believe fans across the sports world can appreciate the gift of witnessing his greatness during our lifetime.