Why respect Otani? It’s been 131 years since Triple 100-100 became a reality
Why do fellow Major League players and even other team players respect Otani Shohei (27, LA Angels)? One of the reasons for this is also ‘skill’. Otani now makes a new history of Triple 100-100 a reality for the first time since the 20th century.
Otani, a “two-ta double-job,” is a batter in 112 games played by his team this season, and has played in 106 games, showing solid durability. Now, if he plays one more game, he will set his record for the most appearances in a Major League season (106 games in the previous 2019 season).
What’s even greater is that he started in 16 games as a pitcher this season. Otani started in all 10 games in 2018 and marked four wins, two losses and an ERA of 3.31. After the end of the 2018 season, he underwent surgery on the ligament joint of his elbow, and only started as a batter in the 2019 season. He then started in two games last season, and is playing “new class” this season with 6 wins, 1 loss and 2.93 ERA in 16 games.
Otani, who has already broken many records, is now making another history. It is “100 innings-100 strikeouts-100 hits.” According to the Japanese media Nikkan Sports, the record is the first since the 20th century, and a total of six major leaguers achieved it in the 19th century.
Otani has already struck out 100 and hit 100 times. He has struck out 106 times this season, setting the record for the most in a single season. In the game against Texas on the 4th, he hit 100 hits in the season with a multi-hit game. He recorded his second three-digit hit following 110 hits in the last 2019 season. If he throws 86 innings here and plays 14 more innings, he will achieve the long-awaited Triple 100 record 파워볼사이트
The six players who achieved Triple 100 in the 19th century were John Ward (1879, 587 innings 239 strikeouts and 104 hits), Jim Whitney (1883, 514 innings 345 strikeouts), Charles Radbon (1883, 632 innings 315 strikeouts and 108 hits), Guy Hecker (1886, 420 innings 133 strikeouts and 387 hits).
No one was named until the 21st century after the 20th century. Babe Ruth, a legendary two-hit pitcher, also struck out 100 innings-100 in three consecutive seasons during his Boston career between 1915 and 1917, but as a batter, he had only 29, 37 and 40 hits, respectively. If Otani achieves it, it will be the first record in 131 years since 1890.
Moreover, the distance between the pitch plate and the home plate in the 19th century was 45 to 50 feet (13.7 to 15.2 meters), not 18.44 meters, a completely different era of baseball from the modern times. That’s how great Otani is performing.
