If you think you know who the best athlete in the world is, you may want to think again. It could be basketball’s LeBron James, soccer’s Cristiano Ronaldo or Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky. But the days surrounding Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado played Tuesday night -- demonstrated the abilities of Japan’s Shohei Ohtani. A member of the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani is in his fourth baseball season in the U.S. after starting his career in Japan. At the age of 27, Ohtani is the first-ever player selected to pitch and hit in an All-Star Game. The game celebrates the best hitters and the best pitchers of the season. A pitcher starts the action in baseball by trying to throw the ball past a hitter. On Tuesday night, Ohtani opened the game as the first hitter for the American League team. At the bottom of the inning, he pitched against hitters from the National League team. The 2021 season is a little more than halfway done. So far, Ohtani has 33 home runs, the most in all of baseball. A home run is a long hit that counts for at least one “run” in baseball. Ohtani has also pitched 13 times for the Angels this year. He is good at preventing the other team’s hitters from hitting the ball. Last April, in a game against the Chicago White Sox, Ohtani threw a baseball at the speed of 162 kilometers per hour (100 mph). He then hit a baseball that traveled 185 kilometers per hour (115 mph). Baseball experts compare Ohtani to the famous New York Yankee, Babe Ruth. Ruth pitched and hit early in his career. But he is better known for his long home runs in the 1920s and 1930s. Ruth probably could have been the first chosen to both hit and pitch in the baseball All-Star Game, but the event started in 1933 after Ruth had stopped pitching. Baseball’s best players are impressed with Ohtani’s ability to both pitch and hit. Most think doing just one thing is hard enough.
