June 27, 2021

Wild Weeks: Ohtani vs. Ruth

Ben Verlander, the host of a podcast called Flippin Bats, recently stated: "The week Shohei Ohtani just had is most impressive week in baseball history."

He was referring to June 15-21, 2021, when Ohtani crushed six home runs in five games and also pitched six innings, allowing one earned run.

For the record, Ohtani went 7-for-22 in that time (1 single, 6 HR), batting .318/.423/1.136 for an OPS of 1.559.

I'm a huge Ohtani fan and that is impressive. . . . But it's not the most impressive.

Check out Babe Ruth from July 11-17, 1918:

13-for-24, 4 singles, 6 doubles, 3 triples . . . .542/.577/1.042 for an OPS of 1.619. Ruth also started once on the mound and pitched five shutout innings, allowing four hits and one walk. (He doubled twice and drove in two runs in that particular game.)

Ruth has numerous weeks like this (and streaks longer than a week) littered throughout his career.

How about Ruth from June 10-16, 1921?

14-for-23, 3 singles, 4 doubles, 7 home runs, 10 walks, .609/.717/1.696 for an OPS of 2.423! Also a win on the mound: 5 IP, 3 ER. And he stole a base.

2.423. That actually happened!

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