Certainly appreciate the performance, but hard to beat Reggie's 3 home runs in Game 6 to win the 1977 World Series and overnight become "Mr. October"...and get his own candy bar to boot.
Context matters. Clobbering the woeful Marlins in a meaningless game (they, destined to lose 100 games) in September is just not comparable to single handedly destroying the favored Dodgers in one game to take the Series. Shohei's game was impressive, but Reggie's was iconic.
Given youthful indiscretion and their LA connection, I can at least understand the convenient amnesia and hyperbole of Lux and Davis I suppose, but not the rest of the media who have remained surprisingly silent on the obvious difference in historical significance.
Maybe Ohtani will wow us in this postseason when the games matter most...I'm almost expecting it. Until then, however, September is not October, and Reggie remains the king of the big stage moment.
Thanks for allowing me to revisit the awesomeness of the 1970's - again.
(I'm actually a little surprised David Freese's game isn't on here, but this is not adjusted for the leverage of the series, or even the game, but rather just the team's chances of scoring in the inning.)
Hideki Matsui...maybe I missed it, but at some point in our development and evolution someone will take on the task of writing the definitive history and impact of Japan on baseball. What an incredible story.
We have for too long falsely dismissed Japanese baseball as inferior while relentlessly and offensively defending our own. Sadaharu Oh wasn't the "real" HR champion (a point the forever thoughtful and classy Hank Aaron vigorously disputed about his friend while painfully aware of the parallels to his own racial struggles in the game), or how Ichiro Suzuki's base hit records "shouldn't count" because a portion were accumulated in supposedly inferior Japanese baseball (a wrongful position made more so this year when the stats of the Negro Leagues - also shamefully once viewed as inferior - were finally added to MLB records).
At a time when all professional sports are trying to become more global in reach, it's remarkable how our recent baseball past so conflicted with where the world is today...and how so many supposedly esteemed baseball writers and commentators just went with it.
Astonishing really.
Now we have Shohei Ohtani just dismantling false perceptions about Japanese baseball and the game generally. No more criticisms of Japanese baseball or snide comments about adding "high school hits."
Which actually might be his most underappreciated impact. That of a quiet warrior somehow bringing baseball into the modern world as a truly international sport.
No worries at all. Outside of you, nobody seems even remotely interested in any distinctions, contextual or otherwise. Per Joe Davis, "the greatest day in baseball history!" That's not nuanced. He didn't offer any footnotes or caveats.
I might have noted this previously here, but in 1988 when Jose Canseco promised in spring training to achieve 40-40, he was scoffed at. When he achieved it, they said it was "selfish", and a "meaningless accomplishment." Many writers, including Bill James, criticized the modern tendency to combine aberrant unrelated counting stats solely to create new categories that didn't by themselves directly add to winning or insight. They were simply a fusion of arbitrary counting stats for marketing purposes. Rarity they pointed out does not immediately equate to importance.
As an A's fan, I chafed at these comments, but here's the thing...They were right.
Today, we act like 50-50 came from the heavens, even though we are now giving away stolen bases like cheap door prizes. I'm not so sure Ohtani gets 40 SBs in 1988. His prior peak was 26 in 155 games three years ago. He's not faster today than in 2021, so his team and rule changes played a part.
Despite that, 50-50 wouldn't have meant anything significant in 1988 if Canseco achieved it, and it surely means less today. Yet, there is Bob Costas of all people putting thumbs up next to a list of arbitrary and aberrant stats to try and convince us how unbelievable it all is. He said on Twitter, "the greatest single day performance by a player in baseball history."
No caveats, no footnotes...no exceptions. Nothing gets in the way of a hyped narrative these days...even for Costas.
You know what wasn't on that list? That it was a meaningless game against the lowly Miami Marlins in late September. Thank you for realizing that context does matter to understanding.
Certainly appreciate the performance, but hard to beat Reggie's 3 home runs in Game 6 to win the 1977 World Series and overnight become "Mr. October"...and get his own candy bar to boot.
Context matters. Clobbering the woeful Marlins in a meaningless game (they, destined to lose 100 games) in September is just not comparable to single handedly destroying the favored Dodgers in one game to take the Series. Shohei's game was impressive, but Reggie's was iconic.
Given youthful indiscretion and their LA connection, I can at least understand the convenient amnesia and hyperbole of Lux and Davis I suppose, but not the rest of the media who have remained surprisingly silent on the obvious difference in historical significance.
Maybe Ohtani will wow us in this postseason when the games matter most...I'm almost expecting it. Until then, however, September is not October, and Reggie remains the king of the big stage moment.
Thanks for allowing me to revisit the awesomeness of the 1970's - again.
Btw, here is an interesting ranking. Most RE24 in a World Series game:
1. Albert Pujols, Gm 3, 2011: 5.8 RE24
2. Ryan Howard, Gm 4, 2008: 5.7 RE24
3. Pablo Sandoval, Gm 1, 2012: 5.0 RE24
4. Reggie Jackson, Gm 6, 1977: 4.9 RE24
5. Hideki Matsui, Gm 6, 2009: 4.7 RE24
6. Hank Greenberg, Gm 4, 1934: 4.7 RE24
7. Anthony Rendon, Gm 6, 2019: 4.6 RE24
8. Tim Salmon, Gm 2, 2002: 4.6 RE24
9. Jeff Kent, Gm 5, 2002: 4.6 RE24
10. Andruw Jones, Gm 1, 1996: 4.6 RE24
(I'm actually a little surprised David Freese's game isn't on here, but this is not adjusted for the leverage of the series, or even the game, but rather just the team's chances of scoring in the inning.)
Hideki Matsui...maybe I missed it, but at some point in our development and evolution someone will take on the task of writing the definitive history and impact of Japan on baseball. What an incredible story.
We have for too long falsely dismissed Japanese baseball as inferior while relentlessly and offensively defending our own. Sadaharu Oh wasn't the "real" HR champion (a point the forever thoughtful and classy Hank Aaron vigorously disputed about his friend while painfully aware of the parallels to his own racial struggles in the game), or how Ichiro Suzuki's base hit records "shouldn't count" because a portion were accumulated in supposedly inferior Japanese baseball (a wrongful position made more so this year when the stats of the Negro Leagues - also shamefully once viewed as inferior - were finally added to MLB records).
At a time when all professional sports are trying to become more global in reach, it's remarkable how our recent baseball past so conflicted with where the world is today...and how so many supposedly esteemed baseball writers and commentators just went with it.
Astonishing really.
Now we have Shohei Ohtani just dismantling false perceptions about Japanese baseball and the game generally. No more criticisms of Japanese baseball or snide comments about adding "high school hits."
Which actually might be his most underappreciated impact. That of a quiet warrior somehow bringing baseball into the modern world as a truly international sport.
OK, fair point, I should have said greatest *regular season* game of all time.
No worries at all. Outside of you, nobody seems even remotely interested in any distinctions, contextual or otherwise. Per Joe Davis, "the greatest day in baseball history!" That's not nuanced. He didn't offer any footnotes or caveats.
I might have noted this previously here, but in 1988 when Jose Canseco promised in spring training to achieve 40-40, he was scoffed at. When he achieved it, they said it was "selfish", and a "meaningless accomplishment." Many writers, including Bill James, criticized the modern tendency to combine aberrant unrelated counting stats solely to create new categories that didn't by themselves directly add to winning or insight. They were simply a fusion of arbitrary counting stats for marketing purposes. Rarity they pointed out does not immediately equate to importance.
As an A's fan, I chafed at these comments, but here's the thing...They were right.
Today, we act like 50-50 came from the heavens, even though we are now giving away stolen bases like cheap door prizes. I'm not so sure Ohtani gets 40 SBs in 1988. His prior peak was 26 in 155 games three years ago. He's not faster today than in 2021, so his team and rule changes played a part.
Despite that, 50-50 wouldn't have meant anything significant in 1988 if Canseco achieved it, and it surely means less today. Yet, there is Bob Costas of all people putting thumbs up next to a list of arbitrary and aberrant stats to try and convince us how unbelievable it all is. He said on Twitter, "the greatest single day performance by a player in baseball history."
No caveats, no footnotes...no exceptions. Nothing gets in the way of a hyped narrative these days...even for Costas.
You know what wasn't on that list? That it was a meaningless game against the lowly Miami Marlins in late September. Thank you for realizing that context does matter to understanding.