Superstar comparison: Shohei Ohtani and Joe DiMaggio

TOKYO — Countless sports commentators to date have compared Shohei Ohtani to Babe Ruth because both athletes pitched and hit at the same time (Shohei proving somewhat better in that department given his performance over the past three years which included two unanimous vote MVP’s.) But perhaps there is another comparison that is even more fitting: Shohei and Joe DiMaggio. Both could be described as one of a kind superstars and both supremely enigmatic.

Ohtani’s 2021 season in which he hit 46 homers and won 10 games as a pitcher inspired a book “The Greatest Season Ever.” He was unanimously selected as MVP at the end of the year. He hit 44 homers and won 10 games as a pitcher in 2023. He was unanimously selected as MVP at the end of that year as well. That too could be described as the Greatest Season Ever.

But you could hear similar praise about Joe DiMaggio. In 1941, DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games. It was considered by many to be the greatest feat in all of baseball history. Famed Harvard scholar Stephen Jay Gould called DiMaggio’s achievement “the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in sport.”