In your gauzy memories of baseball seasons past, the players reaching historic heights probably came with some sort of tracker. Newspapers would count strikeouts or homers, or count down toward the hallowed record about to fall. The broadcasts would cut in to watch every at-bat that might turn into The Moment.
For the first time in a long time, the 2021 MLB season has a player worthy of that treatment, but the tale of the tape isn’t so simple. Shohei Ohtani’s rollicking pursuit of true two-way stardom — leading MLB in homers as a DH while also serving as the Los Angeles Angels’ ace — is so unheard of that Babe Ruth comparisons have gone from outlandish to understatement in the span of about three months.