WATCH: Shohei Ohtani Stars With “Babe Ruth” in an Iconic Ad Highlighting Baseball’s Biggest Two-Way Legends

Dunlop has given fans a glimpse of something truly iconic. Shohei Ohtani’s popularity isn’t something that is hidden from people. The two-way phenom has always been a mystical figure due to his unreal domination on both sides of the field. However, there’s one player who has a similar stature in baseball, a player who has always been compared to Ohtani. That man is Babe Ruth and he recently talked to Ohtani.

Yes, Babe Ruth’s era is long gone. However, Dunlop recently shot a brilliant ad where they had an actor play the legendary Babe Ruth and talk to the Dodgers superstar. The idea was simple – what would happen if the two legendary two-way players met each other? The answer – it would send fireworks all over the baseball world. With multiple brands looking to mix their name with Shohei Ohtani, there’s a growing race to be more creative with advertisements.

However, as of now, it looks like Dunlop may have won the race with their brilliant Babe Ruth x Shohei Ohtani ad. In the video, Ohtani and Ruth’s actor are seen sitting side by side discussing baseball. Ohtani looks as humble as ever while the actor successfully showed Babe Ruth’s outgoing personality.

It isn’t every day that one gets a glimpse of what could happen if two greats from different eras collided with each other. However, the video showed huge mutual respect between the two stars. But while that was interesting, it once again highlights just how inseparable Shotime’s legacy is with Babe Ruth. Despite the two being separated by almost 100 years, the baseball world can’t stop thinking about their similarities.

While that makes a lot of sense, many already believe that Ohtani has eclipsed Babe Ruth when it comes to two-way domination. But what about baseball legacy? Well, that is still up for debate.

Shohei Ohtani and Babe Ruth – How the two stack up against each other

Despite being an influential two-way player, Babe Ruth’s pitching career wasn’t long. While pitched on and off for some time, Ruth only played as a full-time two-way player in 1919. However, that was a historical year for the Bambino. As a result, despite being a two-way player, Ruth’s real popularity came from his unreal hitting. This isn’t the case for Ohtani.

Showtime has been a two-way player since the start of his career. Even in MLB, Ohtani has pitched in four seasons (2018, 2021,2022,2023). As of now, Ohtani has an ERA of 3.01 – a huge achievement in the modern era. On the other hand, Babe Ruth had a career ERA of 2.28 – again a huge number for that era. In a way, despite Ohtani being a more dominating pitcher (relative to the era), Ruth’s numbers are highly competitive. 

But what separates the two is hitting. Though both Ruth and Ohtani are otherworldly hitters, Bambino’s peak was much higher than Ohtani’s. With a career WAR of 183.1, Ruth is on another stratosphere to Ohtani’s 40 WAR till 2024 (per Baseball-Reference). Still with much of Shotime’s career left, one wonders just how high this number will go.

So, do you think Ohtani has a chance of eclipsing Babe Ruth? Let us know in the comments.