Ohtani’s Dominance Draws Michael Jordan Comparisons From Steve Stone
White Sox fans had the opportunity to see Shohei Ohtani play this week, and the greatest player in the world did not disappoint. In three games, Ohtani went 4-for-11 with three home runs and four RBIs against White Sox pitching.
This should come as no surprise. The 2021 American League MVP has always been a White Sox killer. His 435 foot home run on Tuesday was the longest at Guaranteed Rate Field this season.
Ohtani has 15 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .882 OPS while also going 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA on the mound this season. The Angels superstar also helped lead Japan to the 2023 World Baseball Classic victory.
One of the people who got to see Ohtani up close was Steve Stone. The 75-year-old knows a thing or two about baseball. He has been a part of the MLB for more than five decades since entering the league in 1979. He was named to his lone All-Star team and took home the Cy Young Award in 1980.
During an appearance on 670 The Scores Bernstein & Holmes Show on Thursday afternoon, the White Sox television analyst compared what he is seeing from Ohtani to Micheal Jordan’s dominance in basketball.
“Everybody when they try to evaluate Ohtani says, ‘Well, he hasn’t won championships, he hasn’t won World Series,'” Stone said. “Let’s just look at what he is instead of what he hasn’t done. This is a guy the likes of which you probably won’t see again, at least for a long time. Because he can steal bases. He can hit the ball eight miles. He can probably play the field, but they choose not to because the guy has to go out and pitch every five to six days. He’s dominant as a pitcher. His stuff is overwhelming. And you just don’t see anything like him.
“Jordan dominated his era of basketball and is, in my estimation, the greatest basketball player of all time. Now, people will argue that there are a lot of great players that have played on an NBA court. I’m just partial to Michael because I got a chance to see him play at the old Stadium. As far as Ohtani is concerned, he’s the best player in the major leagues because he dominates at two things that people have a hard time dominating at all – which is a dominant hitter and a dominant pitcher at the same time, all wrapped into one. A guy who is 6-4 225 pounds, runs like the wind, can steal as many bases as he’d like to steal – maybe 30 to 40 bases.
“Ohtani is something special. He’s just a pleasure to watch. I really revere talent. When you look at him, you just don’t see that kind of talent anywhere.”
That is high praise coming from Stone. Anytime you can be lumped in the same sentence as Micheal Jordan, as an athlete means you are doing something right. Jordan is a four-time All-Star, ten-time scoring champion, six-time NBA champion, and five-time MVP. Ask anyone in Chicago, and they will tell you he is simply the greatest of all time.
As Stone mentioned Ohtani does not have the ringd that Jordan does. But in baseball it is much harder to carry a team to a championship by yourself. From an indivual standpoint we have never seen anything like Ohtani in sports. Unfortunatley for the White Sox they will be reminded of this at the end of the month when they travel to California to face the Angels for a four game series starting on June 26th.