As the season comes to its peak—the drama unfolds. Whether it’s an ace player, Jose Altuve, opening his cleats and shoes and getting evicted or a diver refusing to give back the ball he caught in the Cove—interesting news drops every few hours. But one thing, rather two names, has been a constant when making the headlines—Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers aces have been slashing records this season. Judge is chasing to break his record of 60 homers, and Ohtani, well, he has broken the records of every baseball great from Babe Ruth to Alex Rodriguez that the sport has seen.

But what’s shocking is that even after having such an iconic season, they have both not made it to Sports Illustrated’s most influential list of 2024. The list includes people who’ve significantly contributed to shaping the sports world this year. And there are plenty of names on the list from LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, and more. Each of them is now a global icon, but Ohtani and Judge not making it is strange. But surprise—Paul Skenes is on the list! 

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge surprisingly left out!

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are undeniably on par with the criteria to make it into the list. But they are nowhere mentioned in the “50 Most Influential Figures in Sports.” The duo is changing the history of the sport. The Japanese icon’s thundering bat hits gold each time he steps into the diamond. Everyone knew that Ohtani was on pace to do something great when he reached the 40-40 club, way ahead of anyone on the list. And they weren’t wrong.

He is now sitting at 48 home runs and 48 stolen bases. The best part? 11 games are still left for the Dodgers’s regular season to end. And Shohei is on his way to complete 51 homers and 51 steals by the end of the regular season. He is on another level!

Then there is Aaron Judge, who is having a jaw-dropping season himself. He has 53 home runs, has 123 walks, and also hit a career high with 35 doubles. According to Katie Sharp from Sports Reference, the New York Yankees icon is now on the same level as Babe Ruth. Judge became the only player in the sport’s history to hit 50 homers, 35 doubles, and 120 walks in one season. Ruth did it in 1920 and 1921 and Judge in 2024. 

The 34-year-old Yankee ace is also leading the league in RBIs, he has 136. Shohei Ohtani is trailing behind him at 110. The duo is turning this season into one of a kind, with many saying after what Ohtani has done, we might not see that record being broken for a long time. Yet, even after so much noise, they didn’t make it to the SI list, but well, someone from MLB did and that’s Paul Skenes. 

Paul Skenes makes it to the ’50 Most Influential Figures in Sports’ list!

Paul Skenes‘ team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, couldn’t make it to the playoffs as they lost 4-0 against the Louis Cardinals on Monday. This also marks the 9th time straight, that they haven’t made it, so quite a bummer. The last time they made it past the regular season was in 2015 and, even then, they lost against the Chicago Cubs. So it’s been a tough stretch and they are now sitting last in the National League Central standings with a mere .470 winning percentage. But, even in this bleakest of times, they have a bright star—Paul Skenes. 

Now granted that things have been challenging for the Bucs this season, but Skenes—he has been shining bright. Since his debut back in May, this rookie has been creating a story of his own. He has a 20-3 record and a 2.07 ERA, plus Skenes has struck out 158 batters across 126! His dominance in the mound has been unbelievable. And his strikeout numbers will make you awestruck.

Paul Skenes, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, ranks fifth in all-time in strikeouts through his first 21 career appearances. He sits just behind legends like Hideo Nomo, Kerry Wood, and Dwight Gooden. Plus, Skenes also has one of the lowest ERA for any rookie in the country. Langs mentioned that he trails behind Steve Rogers, who passed an ERA of 1.9 in 1973-74 while Skenes has 2.07 ERA. So given these stats, it’s not tough to imagine that Sports Illustrated would put him on their most influential list—he is the future. 

Right now for the Pirates, Skenes is the only hope they are counting on. The team will depend on him to steer their boat and maybe not this year, but next year achieve the success they are looking for. But yet, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge not making it to the list, for sure, is strange!