“There are only two seasons – winter and baseball,” Bill Veeck said once. For some, watching the NFL may be the best form of entertainment right now, the Eagles finally dethroning the Chiefs from their high horse in Super Bowl LIX. For some, baseball might have lost it’s charm, the long hours and slow play not exactly made for the short attention spans of the 21st century. But even if it may still be cold in February, can’t you feel it already? The fresh cut grass in the summer sun, a beer in one hand and a hot dog in another, and the cheering crowds.

Buckle up, because it’s Sho-time.

In his first season with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani was somehow better than ever on offense. As designated hitter, playing a career-high 159 games, Ohtani founded the 50/50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, surpassing Alex Rodriguez’s 42 home runs and 46 steals in 1998.

Now, he returns to the mound riding on the coat-tails of an average 3.14 ERA in 2023 while he maintained his position player status. But before we look at what comes next, let’s rewind a little to the past.

In 2016, hitting a ball through the roof of the Tokyo Dome had already catapulted Shohei Ohtani to global renown. Then he announced he was coming to the States and fans were beside themselves. Of course, there were naysayers who didn’t believe there could be anyone like Babe Ruth ever again. A baseball player who hits left-handed and throws with his right? Sure, that might have worked in the Japanese league but please, don’t you know the level MLB plays at?

For two months of his debut year (2018) with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was exactly what was promised. But before he could pitch and hit in the same game, injury struck and years went by without a sign of the two-way phenom promised to fans. By the 2020 season, already shortened by COVID-19, Ohtani was neither pitching nor hitting satisfactorily. Had his prime gone and come while he recuperated from being under the knife multiple times? Most lost faith in his abilities, even the loyalists.

But the best was yet to come.

On April 4, 2021, Shohei Ohtani joined a short list of players before him who hit and pitched in the same game. Ken Brett did it twice in 1976; then Andy Sonnanstine did it in 2009; and Madison Bumgarner in 2016. In all instances, a DH was available but for one reason or another, these players had a dual role.

Only one of them was Shohei Ohtani.

2021 became one of the best baseball seasons in the history of the sport, so much so that Angels beat reporter Jeff Fletcher wrote a book on it. In the foreword, then-Angels manager Joe Maddon wrote, “Shohei is unique, obviously, someone we have never seen before. What he does and how he does it so easily is just different.”

The Japanese slugger did it again in 2023 and is getting ready to do it again in 2025. The years missed in between were necessary to recuperate for the strain put on his body. A couple of trips to the operating room here and there, a team change in the same city, and his first World Series later, Shohei Ohtani is getting ready to pitch his first Major League Baseball game since August 2023.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has given the timeline as May 2025, maybe earlier. Before that Ohtani will go home to Japan for the season-opener vs. the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19, back at the place that made him world famous. While he’s not slotted to be on the mound at Tokyo Dome yet, he will certainly be in the batter’s box.

Officially qualifying as a two-way player thanks to a tweak on the MLB website, Ohtani has begun practice for Spring Training where he threw his favorite pitch after a long while. The sweeper was nowhere close to Ohtani’s full potential, off flat ground; but it was more exciting baseball than we’ve seen since probably the last the World Series.

The numbers for MLB are lower than ever, the once glorious pastime of America down in the dumps. With the rule change for two-way player eligibility, Ken Rosenthal believes it’s not just to cater to one player but to encourage more such talent on the major league level. Done somewhere around 2023, it’s only being brought to attention now because of language changes on the official league website but per the analysts, it’s not just for Ohtani.

To be noted, in 2024 alone, regular season viewership went up by 18%, and Asian audiences specifically by 32%, per SportsPro. No. 17’s home country went wild when their superstar made it to his first career postseason, and averaged 2.9 million viewers in the do-or-die Game 5 of the Dodgers vs. Yankees in the World Series.

It doesn’t need to be spelled out any more than this; Shohei Ohtani needs to return to the mound.

Even so, after Bullet Rogan in the Negro League and the occasional college ball player, there has been no one like Babe Ruth in MLB for a long while. Nay, Ohtani has even surpassed the Sultan of Swat, to be honest. And surprisingly, it’s all thanks to the Angels.

Curse the Angels all you want, but they’re what birthed Shohei Ohtani ‘the two way phenom’

When a young 20-something player from Japan of world renown announced he was coming to play in the States, there was some excitement. The stories around him built and built and built. Where would he go? There were seven options in final – the Mariners, Dodgers, Cubs, Padres, Rangers, Giants, and Angels. A mix of big and small teams, all taking a chance on the famed player already labeled ‘the Babe Ruth of Japan’. He ultimately went to Orange County.

Ohtani’s final choice may have been befuddling to some, but then, no one else was willing to give the man free will to organize his own schedule both on the mound and in the batter’s box. To this day Ohtani says he didn’t regret the choice, even after 2018 passed, then 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, without a hint of October play and the World Series a far-off dream. In his six years with the Angels, Ohtani won unanimous AL MVP twice and almost won it the third time too.

Did his two-way play automatically put him at the top? Maybe, but then again, no one else was throwing splitters, fastballs, curveballs, sliders, and cutters and maintaining an ERA of 2.97. While also leading the league in home runs. You tell me why he didn’t deserve every MVP he won.

Now, he’s getting ready to do it again and baseball will be better off for it.

“We got time but we’ve got a lot of good arms, too,” as Dave Roberts said. Not to mention, a lot of greens too. The Los Angeles Dodgers have even surpassed the Mets this season, owned by Mr. Moneybags Steve Cohen. LA has stood with its hands in its pockets, with thumbs opening them wide to show potential prospects how deep they go.

They proved it with Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract in late 2023 and now have two more talented Japanese pitchers, not to mention home grown talent, to essentially decimate the rest of the league. The original six-man rotation has been temporarily changed to five until Ohtani is ready to officially pitch.

But as I said before, buckle your seatbelts. It’s Sho-time.