LOS ANGELES Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws a pitch to a Brewer batter (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)

The World Series is right around the corner, but no matter what happens – despite the likelihood of a Dodger victory – nothing in the 2025 Fall Classic is going to eclipse the impression made on Saturday when Shohei Ohtani tore up the record books and did it in a masterfully elegant way.

Volumes have already been written about that game, in which he pitched six one-hit innings and smashed three home runs. It’s been described as the greatest feat in major league baseball history, and it probably is, until the next time when he hits four home runs and pitches a complete game, and drives the team bus home.

All that being a given, it’s how he does all this magic that impresses me. Remember the Steroid Era, when little men became big men thanks to chemical assistance and hit many artificially jumped-up home runs? Not to mention any names but … Lenny Something and Barry Someone else.

Shohei – I feel I know him now … has a slim athletic body. His feats do not come out of a test tube but out of a sharp eye, a very quick bat (and arm), good judgment and dedication to doing it right.

He is humble, loves dogs and has never been known to brag or taunt an opponent. And – this is really appreciated – never complained about being stuck in the hardball purgatory of playing for the Angels for six years.

Hall of Fame, heck yeah. In Cooperstown they should already be building the Ohtani Wing. With room to grow.