[Other Sport] Do you know who Shohei Ohtani is?

[Mackenzie]

No I’ve never heard of him or watched a game of baseball.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Actually I tell a lie - Babe Ruth

And I can add Joe DiMaggio and (randomly) Derek Jeter.

The latter because, when I was living and working in Taipei we had a couple of Americans on the project, one of whom had a 'Jeter Sucks' t-shirt that we all made fun of for obvious reasons. She was a Boston Redsox fan and he played his whole 20 year career for the Yankees.

And that is the entire sum of my baseball knowledge.

 

[keaton]

India is doing some heavy lifting there!

I don't want this thread to be about which sport is better/more popular but I will just point out that baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as well as in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican republic. It's played professionally in a surprising number of countries too.

But the relative popularity of the sports isn't really what I was asking about.
I'm genuinely interested to know if sports fans from outside the traditional baseball markets know who Ohtani is. Has he transcended the limitations of the relatively small reach of baseball or is he just a mega star only for baseball fans?

But they would know Kohli in Pakistan and Bangladesh two other very large populations

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

But they would know Kohli in Pakistan and Bangladesh two other very large populations

Smaller than the population of the u.s/canada and Korea though. Then you can chuck in Japan's population too.

If you take out India's population then the cricket/baseball knowing public is probably pretty even.

 

[Flounce]

Smaller than the population of the u.s/canada and Korea though. Then you can chuck in Japan's population too.

If you take out India's population then the cricket/baseball knowing public is probably pretty even.

Fancy calling a competition a World Series when only two countries take part

 

[Pavilionaire]

Blimey! You learn something everyday.
I've probably been to about 25 MLB games over the past 25 years when escorting tours in North America, but I haven't been to a game for about 10 years (apart from Red Sox v Yankees at London Stadium).
I can name plenty of ex-players, but no current players.
I'm off to Japan again in 8 days time, I guess Ohtani was the player whose face I saw on lots of billboards earlier in the year.
But until 5 minutes ago I'd never heard of him.

@Garry Nelson's Left Foot are you going to the Japan v Australia WC qualifier on 15 Oct?

14 years ago, Rick Ankiel of the St Louis Cardinals was the first player since Babe Ruth to have won 10 or more games in a season, and to hit 50 career home runs.

Ohtani blows those stats out of the water. Has won 10 or more games in both 2022 and 2023, while he has hit over 50 home runs THIS SEASON, and 225 in his career overall. Last month he hit .393. Just one more hit in the month would have put him above .400.

 

[Seagull58]

Fancy calling a competition a World Series when only two countries take part

It's called the World Series because it was created by a US newspaper called The World. It is their series.

 

[Seagull58]

14 years ago, Rick Ankiel of the St Louis Cardinals was the first player since Babe Ruth to have won 10 or more games in a season, and to hit 50 career home runs.

Ohtani blows those stats out of the water. Has won 10 or more games in both 2022 and 2023, while he has hit over 50 home runs THIS SEASON, and 225 in his career overall. Last month he hit .393. Just one more hit in the month would have put him above .400.

Hit percentage is what? Percentage of at bats getting on base?

 

[Frutos]

I know who he is but only because his 50 homers and 50 steals warranted a report on BBC Sport a week or two back. As with many top US sportsmen and women, he is virtually unknown in most of the world.

This.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Joe Di Maggio via Marilyn, and Babe Ruth via the group! Never seen a game and I'll keep it that way.

 

[Flounce]

It's called the World Series because it was created by a US newspaper called The World. It is their series.

Myth apparently

Paper hasn’t existed since the early 1930s either

I’m going for Americans bigging themselves up

 

[North of Robertsbridge]

He really is a bit special

Oops, I just noticed this was already posted on the MLB 2024 thread, sorry for the dup. But it‘s so good, I’ll leave it here

 

[Jeremiah]

Is baseball the same as softball ?

 

[North of Robertsbridge]

Is baseball the same as softball ?

Softball is a bigger ball, pitched underarm and played mainly by girls and mixed teams

 

[Han Solo]

Not really: cricket is the second most followed sport in the world while baseball is a niche sport, played seriously in just one country.

Because its the most followed sport in India, yes. Bit like how table tennis is one of the biggest sport in the worlds.. yet it isn't.

Not a lot of people outside the "Commonwealth" will know who "Ben Stokes" or "Virat Kohli" is. You're probably wrong if you think more Americans know about those people than Englishmen who know about Ohtani. Neither baseball or cricket is of any interest in Sweden but Hollywood has made MLB far more familiar than cricket will ever be here, and I imagine that goes for a lot of countries.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I can't believe we've got to 50+ posts without this question being asked, so...



...can he play left back?

 

[Seagull58]

Myth apparently

Paper hasn’t existed since the early 1930s either

I’m going for Americans bigging themselves up

OK. You are right, although the New York World newspaper was heavily involved in promoting it in the early 1900's

 

[ozzygull]

No, At first glance I though it was a motorbike helmet.

 

[AZ Gull]

Not really: cricket is the second most followed sport in the world while baseball is a niche sport, played seriously in just one country.

A quick google search would suggest that baseball is the most popular sport in nine countries.

Does cricket REALLY have a much bigger geographical spread than baseball? I'm not convinced.

I, for one, have never heard of Virat Kohli (because although I used to follow cricket when I lived in the UK, since moving over here it has fallen completely off my radar).

 

[AZ Gull]

No a few others too, much like cricket. It's not a great sport but I sometimes watch it late night on BT Sports/TNT. I root for the Blue Jays to counter American big headedness

Baseball IS a great sport.