[Giancarlo27]

Originally Posted by NCWolf

You keep referencing WAR as if it's the end all, be all. It doesn't apply to Ohtani like it does everyone else.

Ohtani doesn't need a massive WAR do be remembered as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Longevity is an important factor in 99% of the greats - but it's not for Shohei.

HOF'er Eddie Mathews has almost 100 Career WAR over 17 seasons - and a lot of baseball fans have no clue who he is. Because he's just another in a long line of elite baseball players that had a great glove and great bat.

Even if he never pitched another inning Shohei Ohtani will *always* be in bar conversations as the greatest baseball player of all time.

It's like playing golf with your friends and pulling off an unbelievably miraculous shot underneath a tree branch that rolls up onto the green. When your playing partner says "I bet you can't do that again.." you reply:

"I don't have to, I already did." - or in Shohei's case, did it three times.

I just don’t think 3 seasons of 2 way play is enough. Even with Koufax, who may be the best example of a guy regarded as one of the greatest of all time despite having a brief period of greatness, played at an all-time level for 5 years. 3 years feels like just a bit too short of a time to call him an all time great, where it’s more “what-if” than anything else.