IN THE MODERN era that started in 1900, upward of 20,000 men have played Major League Baseball. Over that time, there have been well over 1 million individual months of baseball played. And toward the end of June, one person's awe-inspiring, day-after-day performance prompted a question that seemed worth trying to answer.
Is Shohei Ohtani having the best month in baseball history?
For such a simple question, drawing a definitive conclusion is not easy. Context is vital to every baseball argument, and comparing the greats of the 1920s -- the beginning of the game's live-ball era -- with players a century later muddies any discussion. It only gets harder when acknowledging the lack of integration before 1947 and the steroid-fueled joyrides of the 1990s and early 2000s.
But this is an exercise worth teasing out, if only as an excuse to marvel at what Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels designated hitter/starting pitcher, did in June. Over 126 plate appearances, he batted .394 and led the major leagues in on-base percentage (.492), slugging percentage (.952), OPS (1.444), home runs (15), RBIs (29), extra-base hits (25) and total bases (99). He also threw 30â…“ sterling innings, with a 3.26 ERA, 37 strikeouts and an opponent slash line of .228/.302/.368. He has strung together incredible performances, but nothing like this.
