NEW YORK (AP) — It took four seasons for Shohei Ohtani to join the biggest major league stars of the last eight decades. To commemorate Baseball Digest's 80th anniversary, the publication selected 80 iconic players essential to telling the story of the game from 1942-2021. Even though he didn't arrive in the big leagues from Japan until 2018, the two-way phenom has made such an astounding impact as a hitter AND pitcher that Ohtani was one of 10 active players chosen by a 12-member panel of longtime MLB observers and participants.
Ohtani among Baseball Digest's 80 MLB icons in last 80 years