In All Likelihood, We’re Seeing History in The Making

On rare occasion, a feat takes place in front of our very eyes that is truly historic, literally one for the ages. The question is, do we recognize it for what it is?

I ask this now with Shohei Ohtani hitting 50 home runs and stealing base 50 times in a single season. That was on September 19. Then in the same game, he made it 51 and 51.

No player in Major League Baseball has ever hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases.

No one. Not Babe Ruth, not Barry Bonds, not Mickey Mantle … no one.

No matter who’s on your “Baseball Mount Rushmore,” Ohtani is making his case in the strongest possible terms to join the group.

Ohtani gets compared to Babe Ruth a lot because they both hit for power and pitch. But in statistic after statistic, Shohei Ohtani keeps tallying up stats to make the case that right now we’re seeing greatness that’s never been seen before.

In my lifetime, there have been other singular stats — Barry Bonds hitting 73 homers; Orel Hershiser pitching 59 consecutive scoreless innings; Cal Ripken playing 2,632 straight games; Nolan Ryan throwing seven no-hitters; Rickey Henderson stealing 1,406 bases.  And BT (before Tony), the legendary Joe DiMaggio established what might be the most unbreakable record in baseball when he hit safely in 56 consecutive games. Some epic feats are seasonal, others over a career.

When we look to other sports, we see Katie Ledecky earning 14 gold medals, winning 26 world championships and holding all of the fastest 20 times in the 1500m event. Mikaela Shiffrin has 97 career World Cup alpine ski wins and ranks first on the all-time World Cup victory list for both men and women.

Greatness is before us. Always. Right now, Shohei Ohtani could reach 55-55. A young major league ballplayer might someday surpass Cal Ripken. Mikaela Shiffrin is only 29 years old and in all likelihood, will keep adding to her incomparable record.

Could. Might. Probably.

That’s why we watch and follow along. It’s why we delve into complex statistics (WAR or wins above replacement stat, anyone?). It’s why we celebrate now and find renewed hope every year when a new season begins.

The greatness is in the doing. In the face of ever-present uncertainty and probabilities, transcendence breaks through. For every what-if or never-gonna-happen, there’s magic and pure joy in the how-did-they-do-that.

Did I ever imagine that the gold medal record Mark Spitz set when I was growing up would ever be broken? No, but then along came Michael Phelps in 2008.

So keep swinging that bat, stealing those bases and throwing strikes, #17. We see what you’re doing, and you look great in Dodger Blue, Shohei Ohtani.

I am certain that greatness is now.