Shohei Ohtani has done things this postseason that no living fan of baseball has ever witnessed. He is dominating on both sides of the ball — as pitcher and as hitter — the way Babe Ruth did in his early career. But Babe Ruth, let’s be honest, mostly played against men who would be amateurs today. In game 3 of the NLCS, Ohtani struck out ten batters as the starting pitcher, and he hit three home runs.
Until Freddie Freeman ended last night’s 18-inning melodrama, Ohtani was the bulk of offense for the Dodgers. Yahoo on his absurd night:
Ohtani’s list of statistical superlatives from Game 3 is downright comical. His two blasts made him the first player ever with three multi-homer games in a single postseason. He became the first player in playoff history to go 4-for-4 with two homers and two doubles. He now has eight home runs this October, tying the all-time Dodgers playoff record. His four extra-base hits in a game tied the Fall Classic record. His intentional walk in the ninth inning was just the second bases-empty free pass in World Series history, followed by the third in the 11th and the fourth in the 15th.
He reached base nine times! He will start game 4 tonight.
“We’ve been talking about him since he got here in 2018,” Freddie Freeman said after last night’s game, “We’re still running out of words to describe a once-in-a-10-generational player.”
That about sums it up.