Grandeur on the field

Our national sport

When I lived in Texas in the late 60s, all of the nearby families had sons rather than daughters my age. It was Texas so I coped in the most logical manner: I became avidly interested in sports, especially football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. I consumed statistics as I did food. Anyone foolish enough to get between me and the sports section of the newspaper paid a price. My birthday present for a couple of years was a subscription to The Sporting News. The weekly arrival of that gem (for those of you under 50 or getting forgetful, remember there was a world without the web so handheld didn’t mean sandwihes but hard copy publications) was a cause for delight as I culled through all that information. From April until September, I went to bed nightly listening to the Houston Astros games on a 1930s radio previously my father’s.

The Astros were the only team in the state as the Rangers were still the Washington Senators, a point I validated in the summer of 1970. We were in D.C. that summer when we attended a game where the Senators tried pump up their declining ticket sales by giving them as an incentive; I kissed the age limit but got the bat. I imagine my mother, who detested sports, could not wait for me to go to college so she could misplace the beloved bat. Note I did not use it as I suck as sports but it was a coveted link to baseball.

Then, as life progressed, sports took a backseat to other activities, though I still followed football because even graduate students stand through each play of every game as a rite of survival. Even though it was the Faustian era (I think the Domers were 1-10 his first deplorable season despite the incredible anticipation on campus before Gerry Faust arrived. Silly me, I had the temerity to ask how people would react when he suffered an initial loss since I thought people a bit unrealistic when talking as if he would never ever ever lose since he had an astonishingly glorious record as a high school coach in Cincinnati. Little did we know…), it was still great to see a sport I had followed so closely earlier.

I really rather ignored baseball for about fifty years. Kansas City, my birth city, won it all in the mid-80s and then again in 2015 but I am accustomed to supporting teams that rarely win. I tended to confound winning with the successes and failures of any individuals of I knew anything. That boiled down to George Brett was glorious but am not sure I could have named three other players for most of the period from the early 70s through the Nationals winning the World Series in 2019.

After I stopped arising at 0330 every day for work, my husband started flipping on games during baseball season. Annapolis has the USNA team but their season is over by the time the weather warms so we have yet to attend a live game here. We know that nearby Bowie has a minor league squad but just haven’t made it there either.

Two seasons into retirement, we are baseballers again, full bore. We discuss why certain people are still playing (no names, no names) considering their errors all the way back to the first day of the season. We are pained to see the Orioles collapse so spectacularly of late, actually allowing their opponents 10 runs in a single game multiple times this week. (Seriously, guys?) Then, the Nationals are a D.C. teams so…

All of this takes me to the most joyous part of this year’s season. Yes, I understand Aaron Judge is leading the majors in homers, the Yankees are winning their division, and several teams are on the bubble which combine to make this an outstanding time of the year for the sport. Hey, the White Sox…oh, never mind those Southsiders this season.

But then there is Shohei Ohtani. Oh, my goodness, Otani an amazing thirty year old who makes this game special along with Judge and others right now. But, the Japanese-born player is so special in a couple of other ways that we need right now.

Born in Oshu, Iwate, a city of 114,000 on Honshu north of Tokyo, Otani arrived in Major League Baseball six years ago as a left-handed batter but a right-handed pitcher. Sure, the sport had many two-way threats generations ago but it’s been quite a while since someone was as successful in both categories as Otani.

Otani suited up for the cross town L.A. Angels over his first five seasons but became a Dodger at the end of last season. This year, however, he is concentrating on his talent as a designated hitter, providing his new team much firepower.

By all rights, however, Otani should have had a pretty crappy season. Cast your mind back to last winter when U.S. authorities charged his translator—like so many Japanese he apparently speaks far less English than one might expect considering U.S.-Japanese ties—with stealing $16 million from the star. Otani never faced charges himself but someone so close to him, the scrutiny the star himself received, and the stress of losing one’s translator had to upend Otani’s life. That alone would have set many people into a tailspin recovery behind closed doors for a season.

Otani instead is completing a splendid season. Aaron Judge boasts lifetime batting slightly higher than Otani’s overall (Judge is two years senior), but Judge is not a pitcher, either. Skill and practice required for that activity alone can be all-consuming for most yet Otani is still hitting the ball out of the park—literally.

He went 6 for 6 last night, hitting three home runs, a double, and two base hits along with stealing two bases all in a single game. He accounted for ten runs batted in. I heard and read this morning that this was the greatest performance ever in a baseball game, obvioiusly quite a proclamation. Otani is now a member of the “50-50 Club”: he has hit 50 (actually 51) homeruns while stealing 50 (again, he has actually grabbed 51) bases during the 2024 season.

This guy is 30 years old.

I know I am old school boring but he places with grace, professionalism, and measured pride. Watching the replays of Otani’s feats this morning, one doesn’t see the hip sways, demonstrable need to grab extended attention following each hit, or the outlandish behavior when he strikes out that one sees elsewhere. I don’t get to see a lot of Dodger games but one doesn’t hear him named as a “bad boy” the way other players are. Part of the reason the translator’s crimes got so much attention was that they seemed so unlike Otani himself. I am sure he has bad hair days as we all do but this is a guy who seems to love baseball in its purity (yes, I know the DH is not original baseball but you know what I mean) from the sandlots.

Baseball is a huge sport in East Asia, especially Japan, but Otani could have become a prima donna as so many others in sports have become. Instead, he seems to bring seriousness and childlike fun without absurdity to his game.

How refreshing. Something to celebrate in a year of more over the top nonsense in so much of our culture and our lives that it merits silently thanking him for seemingly being a regular guy.

I suspect millions of boys and girls around the world want to grow up to be Shohei. That strikes me as a pretty good consequence today. The sport is revitalized because of him, Aaron, Judge, and others as a way to spend time non-violently spend innoculated from the usual trials and tribulations of our daily news cycle.

I consider that a definativamente accomplishment for all of us. Additionally, his success can’t hurt our ties with our friends in Asia, either, in ways that could become important over the long run. In an era of small actions growing into consequential ones, Otani’s week was far better than that of the young boy killed in China where anti-Japanese sentiment is climbing yet again.

Thank you for reading Actions today and any other day. I welcome your thoughts, questions, and rebuttals. I got so much feedback on assumptions yesterday that it made me realize that Substack can create expanded conversation on even the most contentious topics. Thank you to the subscribers who help me do this every single day with their financial support; it really matters.

I did a walkabout yesterday with camera in hand to celebrate the end of the summer. A couple of shots I particularly enjoyed.

Have a good weekend. Peek in on the last couple of weeks of the baseball season to see if Otani makes the 60-60 club somehow? Be well and be safe. FIN

Fabian Ardaya, “Did Shohei Otani just play the single greatest baseball game ever?”, NewYorkTimes.com, 20 September 2024, retrieved at https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5781376/2024/09/20/shohei-ohtani-dodgers-best-game-ever/

Justin McCurry, “Tokyo demands answers over fatal stabbing of 10 year old boy in China”, TheGuardian.com, 20 September 2024, retrieved at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/japanese-boy-stabbed-china

“Shohei Otani versus Aaron Judge: Head to Head Stats Comparison”, stathead.com, retrieved at https://stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&player_id1=otani-000sho&player_id2=judge-001aar