One game in which he struck out 10 batters and smashed three homers, and the atmosphere was entirely different.
There was nothing unusual about the scene at World Series media day Thursday from the wall of people in front of Shohei Ohtani to the microphones dangled over his head by television reporters stuck in the back of the herd.
Here’s what had changed in the last week: Ohtani wasn’t fielding any more inquiries about how pitching could negatively affect his hitting.
Rather than serve as an inquisition of Ohtani as a two-way player, this World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays is shaping into a celebration of the most singular act in modern baseball.