- 2 days ago
The things Shohei Ohtani can do on a baseball field are legendary, but is he shifting the culture of LA from a Lakers Town to a Dodgers Town?
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00:00Is it a Dodger town or a Laker town?
00:04Whew, I guess it just depends on the year, huh, D-Fish?
00:08Because right now, dude, this is Dodger town, it seems like.
00:11And I love me with my Lakers more than just about anything,
00:15but this town seems to love them some Dodgers
00:18because that Shohei Otani is doing things that will never be done ever again.
00:22Then again, I say that right now.
00:25Maybe he is going to be the start of a new type of baseball player
00:28that can do absolutely everything.
00:31I'm just willing to believe, no, this is a one-of-a-kind unicorn
00:35because I've never seen anything to this caliber
00:39of a guy that can do what he can do on the mound
00:42and can do what he can do at the plate.
00:44For instance, yesterday, he pitched on the mound, five innings, scoreless.
00:48Oh, and let's just take a look and listen to the first pitch of the game last night.
00:53Awesome, that fashion.
00:55And now in the finale, off we go with a towering drive
00:57on the first pitch.
00:59Did he get enough?
01:01Merrill can't get there.
01:02It's gone.
01:04First pitch of the game.
01:05The pitcher hits it out.
01:09That right there from Spectrum TV last night.
01:12Shohei Otani, first pitch of the game, goes ya-ya right away like it's nothing.
01:19One-nothing lead.
01:20And ladies and gentlemen, that's all a Shohei Otani in the year 2026 needs
01:24because he goes out there and throws five scoreless innings,
01:28taking his ERA from 0.84, which was way too high for him
01:34because now it's 7-9.
01:37Zero, seven, nine ERA.
01:39He's got the best ERA in the game by almost a full point at this point,
01:44and he's pitched over 55 innings.
01:46Because the man is, it's almost like a lazy thing.
01:51It's like, God, can you believe that Shohei can do that?
01:53But no, I still cannot believe that Shohei Otani can do all of these things,
01:57D-Fish.
01:58Why can't you believe it, bro?
02:00Because I've never seen anybody so good.
02:03But I've never, it's insane.
02:05It's just, like, truly, I'm trying to think of,
02:07I can't think I can come up with one.
02:09Like, what would be the basketball equivalent of a Shohei Otani?
02:13Because I have said in the past, it's like Shaq and Steph, but the same guy.
02:18But I don't even think that's doing this justice.
02:21Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
02:23I mean, in basketball, I think there have been those guys that we felt like
02:27we'll never see this again, or he's one of one.
02:31But then there comes another one because of how it compounds, right?
02:36Like, you, there are young kids watching him now that in 10 years,
02:42you know, are going to come along.
02:44And he's creating that mold of baseball players that are going to want to do both.
02:50So eventually, maybe you will have one more that can do all of these things.
02:54But I believe it.
02:56He's showing it to us.
02:58He has consistently done it.
03:00Is this the first time?
03:01You know, not the first time.
03:02We've obviously seen him pitch before, but, like, this is not new for him.
03:07This is not an accident.
03:09This is not coincidental.
03:10This is who the guy is.
03:12Yeah.
03:14And, you know, it all comes from the hard work and the training
03:17and the belief in himself, et cetera.
03:20To the question you asked to start it about whose town it is,
03:24the town goes to the winners.
03:26Fair.
03:27It just, it does.
03:28Like, so, I mean, the Dodgers have won back-to-back titles.
03:31Yeah, it's a Lakers town, but the Dodgers are first now.
03:36Yeah, it's a Laker town, but it's a Dodger city.
03:39Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, that's just what it is.
03:42Like, you, you know, and you have to respect that.
03:45And I don't think anybody, even the guys on the Lakers, would disagree necessarily.
03:49Like, yeah, man, if we're pulling up to a restaurant, Mookie Betts and Shohei
03:54and Freddie Freeman, probably, they should get a table before us.
03:57And they're probably tipping better.
04:01Of course, I'm mentioning that because there's rumors that Luka's not a great tipper.
04:06But listen, listen, that's allegedly, allegedly.
04:11Listen, I'm looking at this team and Shohei specifically.
04:15Last night, Shohei gets out of the fifth inning, gets in a bit of a jam, bases loaded.
04:20This is, like, one of those moments, like, things are made for, right?
04:23Bases loaded, jam, one out, and then he's facing Fernando Tatis Jr.
04:27And you and I, you mentioned in the first hour, we were talking with Tony Gwynn Jr. yesterday.
04:31Fernando Tatis Jr. has not been getting it together at the plate yet.
04:34Still zero home runs.
04:36And, you know, Raj has been throwing out a couple of little facts about our guy down there in San
04:43Diego
04:43and Fernando Tatis Jr.
04:44It ain't a coincidence.
04:45Listen, as a guy that got drug tested a whole bunch when I played, a whole bunch, never failed one.
04:52You know why?
04:53Didn't take any of them drugs.
04:55I'm not saying that, you know, Tatis Jr. full-on took those PEDs.
05:01He seemingly somewhat denied it, if I remembered it correctly.
05:04But there is a drug test that exists.
05:07Hey, Raj, what are those numbers, Fernando Tatis Jr., since that drug test came out?
05:11Well, OPS before and after, and that's on-base percentage plus slugging, it's about 100 less.
05:18It's a huge drop-off prior to the PED testing or getting busted, and then post-PED.
05:23And by the way, zero home runs this season for your supposedly slugging outfielder slash infielder.
05:31Zero home runs.
05:32I'm saying not a coincidence.
05:33It must be nice that you're getting paid roughly $400 million.
05:37Oh, I'm sorry.
05:38I'm going a little too far.
05:40$340 million.
05:40To be a slap hitter.
05:42Hey, hey, singles are nice.
05:44Singles are nice.
05:45Some people like singles.
05:47This team, it's just, it's, it, I actually do want the Padres to continue being good.
05:53I think they are the team in the West, specifically, you can give the Dodgers a hell of a challenge,
05:57along with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
05:59But I don't think it matters.
06:01Shohei Watani's now coming alive.
06:02He's also hitting 272.
06:04Oh, he's also now hitting in the games that he's pitching in now.
06:08So, I will find out if he's in the lineup tonight.
06:10I'm assuming he's going to be, because he's swinging the bat pretty damn well.
06:14The one guy I got my eyes on waiting for him to turn it around.
06:17There's just one guy now, because now Freddie Freeman's starting to swing the bat after these last couple of days
06:21after an 0-16 run.
06:23Mookie Betts, you're next on the list, baby.
06:26He's hitting 194 right now, but two hits last night.
06:29And you and I talked about it a little bit in the first hour.
06:32Mookie Betts is going to end up doing Mookie Betts things.
06:36Yes, he will.
06:37That's who he, that's who he is.
06:39He's a winner.
06:39He's a winner.
06:41You know, veteran players, veteran teams, and baseball seasons are longer than basketball seasons in terms of the total number
06:49of games played.
06:50But in basketball, like you saw it even with the Lakers this year, right, the post-All-Star push that
06:58the Lakers made, the month of March that they had, right?
07:02Veteran players, like over the course of a season, it's not an intentional, conscious thing of like, hey, I'm going
07:09to wait until a certain date to start, you know, improving my performance or playing better or getting locked in
07:16more.
07:16But it's almost like a body clock thing because you have been in the league for seven years, eight years,
07:24ten years, et cetera.
07:25And your body clock as an athlete starts to turn on in different ways as the season goes on, assuming
07:33that you're healthy enough for this to happen.
07:35And so when you see like veteran teams in other sports, like they start to play better at certain times.
07:43They start out great, then maybe they kind of fall off some, but then that pilot light turns back on
07:49the last quarter of the season.
07:51I would assume in baseball, you can tell me if it's different, for veteran baseball players, there's no way I'm
07:58as excited in early May about the season as I will be in July and August and September.
08:06100%.
08:06There's not a chance.
08:08But I do think there are certain teams that kind of buck that system a little bit, this Dodger team
08:13being one of them.
08:14And I think it's not necessarily.
08:15They can still win games, but individually.
08:19Yes.
08:20Mookie Betts batting 200.
08:22Doesn't matter yet.
08:23In May is different than like August, September, October.
08:26No question.
08:27No question.
08:28It's just different.
08:29Like the focus level, the attention to detail is just slightly higher because the circumstances are different, right?
08:37Now the division crown is on the line and like every rep does kind of matter differently than it may
08:43in April and May.
08:45So I just, I feel like the Dodgers are in a good position because they're still capable of winning games
08:51even when they aren't, they're not playing the way they would need to to win World Series Game 7 on
08:56the road.
08:57Like you don't have, you can't play at that level 162 times.
09:02Yeah.
09:02No, no, you really, you cannot.
09:04You put flat out, even a guy like Mookie Betts, who's had some, had some injury issues these last couple
09:09of years that have finally started to catch up with him.
09:11I'm hoping he can stay healthy, but getting back over to Otani, who is starting to get it all together.
09:15Now I mentioned earlier and throughout the week, I don't think Otani is quote unquote going for the MVP this
09:22year.
09:22I think his sights on as far as hardware is going is on a different award and that would be
09:27the Cy Young award.
09:28However, because of his, let's just say, unique set of skills, Shohei Otani will be at the top of the
09:36award list of both of these things.
09:38And it has happened before where pitchers have won the MVP.
09:41Let's go through a quick list.
09:42Like former Dodger Don Newcomb and Sandy Koufax have both won the MVP as a pitcher.
09:48Clayton Kershaw won the MVP in 2014 as a pitcher.
09:52Justin Verlander won the MVP as a pitcher.
09:55You're Dennis Eckersley, Roger Clemens, Willie Hernandez, Raleigh Fingers, Vida Blue, Danny McClain, and Bob Gibson.
10:01These are all pitchers that have won the MVP.
10:05Here's the difference.
10:06They won the MVP for that, being a pitcher.
10:10And I've never really thought that was a proper thing to happen.
10:14I never thought a pitcher should win an MVP, most valuable player,
10:17simply because a pitcher, a player that's only affecting one in every five games,
10:23is kind of a tough pill for me to swallow.
10:25He's got to do something kind of ridiculous.
10:27And I always felt the same way about the DH position.
10:30You're only playing on one side of the ball.
10:32You're going to have to do something that's never been done before.
10:34Like what Shohei Ohtani did two years ago when he went 50-50.
10:39First player ever to go 50-50.
10:41You get the award.
10:43Shohei Ohtani might be, this season, the only player in baseball history
10:48to win the MVP as being that offensive guy and win the Cy Young being the pitcher.
10:55That has never happened ever.
10:59Ever.
11:01I mean, it may never happen again either.
11:05I don't think it will.
11:06I'm not even sold it's going to happen this year.
11:08I think, and I would love your take on this, because we deal with this a lot in the NBA.
11:13We deal with this with the NFL.
11:14At the end of the day, these awards are being voted on by people.
11:18They're being voted on by writers.
11:20And voter fatigue does happen.
11:22It just does.
11:23When we get a guy an award a couple of times, we sometimes look the other direction.
11:28And I'll think in the NBA style, not that Joel Embiid didn't deserve that MVP,
11:32but every time I think of that Joel MVP award, I keep thinking,
11:37shouldn't that have been Joker's third in a row?
11:39I don't know, man.
11:40I get it.
11:40But also, a little voter fatigue there?
11:44Probably.
11:44Yeah.
11:45I mean, if our memory serves us correctly, yeah, you're right.
11:48That does happen.
11:50I mean, we thought it might happen this year in the NBA with SGA, even though it was-
11:55It was only one.
11:56It was only one.
11:58The point on Otani, though, is valid.
12:01Like, it may not happen this year, but even having these conversations may not ever happen again.
12:07Yes.
12:08No, you're right.
12:09It's to your point, right?
12:10Like, winning, it's what Victor Wimbanyama wants to do, actually.
12:17Mm-hmm.
12:18Well, now that I'm thinking about it, these are the types of conversations he's having with the Spurs.
12:24Like, he wants to win Defensive Player of the Year and MVP in the same season.
12:29Which, by the way, if there's a guy that can do it, his name's Victor Wimbanyama.
12:33Right.
12:34And then, but what happens, though, is, like, the reason why sports are-
12:39Why there's frickin' a whole channel now to talk sports-
12:42You bet.
12:43Right here on 97.1 The Fan.
12:46Also, watch us on YouTube, at The Fan LA.
12:49Nailed it.
12:50Good job, Cody.
12:51Oh, we're also Derek and Decker.
12:53I'm Cody Decker.
12:54That's Derek Fisher.
12:55He's very famous.
12:56The-
12:59It's got so many rings.
13:01The-
13:02It, it, it, it, like, inspires and, and motivates.
13:05It's aspirational.
13:06It's, like, you see people going through really difficult things to do and finding a way to
13:11kind of figure it out and battle through it and solve the problems.
13:14Wimby is 7'4".
13:16Not many people on Earth are ever going to be that tall.
13:18Sure.
13:19We get it.
13:19Like, Ohtani, not many people on Earth are going to have the size, the power, the strength,
13:24but, like, it's, there are young people, adults, still watching these guys make a decision
13:31that they want to be the greatest in the world at something and, and then go out and do it.
13:36And Ohtani being intentional about wanting to win a Cy Young award and, like, literally going out and on his
13:44way to being in the conversation to do it is an amazing thing.
13:48And it's, it's why people turn on sports to watch and see these amazing things happen.
13:55Like, so, um, I, I don't know if, again, I don't know enough of the formula around, you know, is
14:03he going to pitch enough games, enough innings?
14:05I don't know if they count pitches.
14:06I think he will.
14:06I think it's all going to come down to if he's healthy.
14:09If he's healthy, he's going to be pitching.
14:11He's going to be pitching one every five, six days, um, and he'll be out there.
14:14I, I firmly believe he'll, if, as long as health is permitted, he will hit every single number he needs
14:21to hit to be eligible.
14:22With the Cy Young award, though, what, you know, your winning, your win-loss record, uh, your, your, you know,
14:31how many strikeouts?
14:32Strikeouts.
14:32What are the metrics?
14:33So it's, it's all, it's kind of all of the above, like it could be everything.
14:36Now, win-losses is a little lofty.
14:38That's something that the pitcher doesn't have a ton of say in.
14:42Say he goes out there and throws a nine-inning, one-run game, they lose one-nothing.
14:47Basically, it's what happened to Paul Skeens last year.
14:49Paul Skeens wins the Cy Young last year.
14:51Very deserved.
14:52He had like a 500 record because he played on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
14:55I understood.
14:56Uh, and that's just unfortunate, and, uh, you have also strikeouts, you have whip, you have ERA, you have innings
15:04pitched, as you mentioned.
15:05Uh, high leverage spots can be, uh, mentioned, how many times you got in and out of situations.
15:11Uh, walks can be brought in.
15:13And it's just kind of an all-encompassing type of thing.
15:15Understood.
15:16That makes sense.
15:17So then, yeah, he, he definitely has a chance to.
15:20Oh, yeah.
15:22Because I'm, for me, I'm looking at the win-loss thing as a, as a basketball player.
15:26Like, you, you can't win the MVP if your team is 500.
15:29I get that.
15:30Right?
15:30But in baseball, it's different, and rightfully so.
15:33The way you just explained it, I got it.
15:35We can move on.
15:36Absolutely.
15:37Thanks, teacher.
15:37You're welcome.
15:38I taught D-Fish something.
15:40That's so cool.
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