Most Classy Player an easy pick

If Shohei Ohtani somehow falls a biscuit short of being the Greatest Baseball Player of All Time, he will still be in contention for being the Classiest.

On Friday, San Diego Padres pitcher Robert Suarez plunked Ohtani on the back of his right shoulder on a 3-0 count. Others in the Blue Crew readied to storm the field and deal out a bit of Chavez Ravine justice, but Ohtani waved them back.

Then the Unicorn walked over to the Padres dugout and started chatting amiably with Those Guys, who looked as abashed as if they had been caught keying the Popemobile.

Now, that sportsmanship didn’t extend to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and chief Padre Mike Schmidt in an unrelated argument in which they bumped each other and got the thumb, one-game suspensions and fines.

Of course, long-standing tradition calls for managers to yell and carry on and bump their beer-or-pasta bellies as a way of showing themselves standing up for their men.

Now, it all looked a little silly compared to the forbearance shown by Shohei, but – frankly – don’t most baseball folks today look a bit diminished compared to the Greatest – and Classiest-Ever?

Post-script: And those home runs. He doesn’t even look like he’s swinging hard. He just flicks the bat and a moment later he’s already rounding second. Sheesh.