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Since Babe Ruth, the MLB hasn’t seen a high-level two-way player until Shohei Ohtani emerged. The MLB community considers Ohtani a unicorn, and many believe he’s the best player in the league.
After winning two American League MVP titles with the LA Angels, Ohtani was the National League MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. He’s the only member of the 50-homer 50-stolen-base club, and oddsmakers have him as the favorite to win the 2025 MVP title.
Are these accomplishments enough for Ohtani to enter Cooperstown? Sportscaster Rich Eisen, a diehard Yankees fan, discussed the same with Chris Brockman and TJ Jefferson on Wednesday’s episode of The Rich Eisen Show. Brockman feels Ohtani doesn’t deserve it, pointing out several factors, but Eisen disagreed.
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“You cannot tell the story of Major League Baseball without this guy who comes from Japan,” Eisen said (from 3:11).
“He (Shohei Ohtani) does something that we haven’t seen in a hundred years that we haven’t seen. He is a guy that you pay to see. He’s a guy that you stop what you’re doing because his at-bat is on the television set.”
Eisen noted that Ohtani also popularized the sport internationally, more than his senior compatriot Ichiro Suzuki. The sportscaster finds no comparison to Ohtani and that if he goes the Barry Sanders route now, he would be Hall of Fame-eligible.
Sanders is a former NFL MVP who played 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions. He unexpectedly retired at age 31 and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Why Chris Brockman believes Shohei Ohtani doesn’t have Hall of Fame credentials?
Given Aaron Judge’s credentials, Chris Brockman said that the Yankees captain doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
He pointed out the 33-year-old’s postseason struggles and lack of a Fall Classic as one of many reasons. Despite winning the World Series last year, Brockman believes Ohtani’s credentials are lower than Judge’s, though.
“He (Shohei Ohtani) has individual accolades, sure,” Brockman said (from 1:37). “but again, (he has a) shorter career than Aaron Judge at this point.
“Doesn’t even have a thousand career hits. If you combine his pitching WAR with his batting WAR, it’s 62, which is still awfully low for Hall of Fame metrics, usually need to be around 75 or so.”
Brockman also mentioned that Shohei Ohtani couldn’t enter the postseason, let alone win a World Series, during his six-year (2018 to 2013) stint with the Angels despite having Mike Trout, a potential Hall of Famer, as a teammate.
The analyst pointed to Ohtani’s decision to join a superteam like the Dodgers to win the World Series, which works against his Hall of Fame selection.
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Edited by Bhargav
