Down goes the MVP: Ohtani wouldn't be first to suffer October injury; Judge has unreal O-fer

LOS ANGELES — Maybe he’ll just will his subluxated shoulder to heal in the next 24 hours, because that’s what superheroes do.

Or maybe he won’t. Maybe he can’t. Maybe we’ll be reminded that the great Shohei Ohtani is human after all.

All we knew Saturday night was that we were watching a sight nobody wanted to see. This was the Ohtani highlight (or lowlight) you would rather fly to Tokyo in a middle seat than fix your eyeballs on.

It was hard to make your brain accept that the planet’s most talented baseball player was trudging off the field at Dodger Stadium after an ill-fated stolen-base attempt, an athletic trainer holding his throbbing left arm in place. But we regret to confirm it was really happening.

What did it mean? We don’t know that yet. All we know is that the 2024 World Series resumes Monday night at Yankee Stadium — and the rest is in the hands of the Dodgers’ most trusted MRI machine.

Is Ohtani’s World Series — and latest magical season — over? Or will he just disappear into his bat cave, make a few sparks fly and come out ready to play Monday? That seemed unlikely. But his manager, Dave Roberts, who announced that the presumptive National League MVP had suffered a partial shoulder dislocation, wouldn’t put it past him.

“If you have to play the rest of the World Series without Shohei Ohtani,” I asked Roberts after the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over the Yankees in Game 2, “how equipped are you to do that?”

“I’m not there,” Roberts replied, as optimistically as possible. “I’m expecting him to be there. I’m expecting him to be in the lineup.

So is he right? Is he dreaming? Does he know something we don’t know? Sorry. Can’t answer that yet. What I can do is give you some historical perspective.

This has happened before — in some memorable Octobers of yesteryear. So allow me to jog your memories, or at least lay out the history of other MVPs who weren’t healthy enough to play all through their teams’ World Series journeys.

I asked my friends from STATS Perform with help researching this. So thanks to STATS’ Jake Coyne for his fantastic work in finding three other MVPs who went down in October. You’ve heard of them!

Kirk Gibson — Yeah, him again. This is turning into the Kirk Gibson Series. And that’s quite a feat for a guy who hasn’t played a game in 29 years.

But in Game 1, it was Freddie Freeman summoning his inner Gibby with a walk-off homer into the same section of the right-field pavilion where Gibson lofted his legendary 1988 walk-off shot against Dennis Eckersley. Then in Game 2, it was Ohtani, conjuring up memories of why Gibson was hobbling around the bases in the first place.

But unlike Ohtani, Gibson didn’t get hurt during the World Series. In Game 5 of the Dodgers’ astonishing NLCS upset of the Mets in 1988, Gibson tore his left hamstring. So he missed Game 6, then tried to play in Game 7 and strained a knee ligament in his other leg.

He wound up getting only one at-bat in that World Series. At least he turned it into a scene from “The Natural.” But the bottom line is this: The Dodgers played 12 games in that postseason. The NL MVP was healthy enough to appear in only eight of them.

Mickey Mantle — Many people remember Mantle injuring his knee when his spike got caught in an outfield drain pipe as he and Joe DiMaggio converged on a Willie Mays fly ball in the 1951 World Series. But that was not one of Mantle’s three MVP years.

It’s not remembered nearly as vividly now, but Mantle also got hurt during the 1957 World Series after his second straight MVP season. In fact, his injury was at least slightly reminiscent of Ohtani’s injury Saturday night.

In Game 4 of that World Series against the Braves, Mantle collided at second with the Braves’ Red Schoendienst on a pickoff attempt — and injured his right shoulder. He sat out Game 5, then returned for the rest of the Series. But he would say in later years that he felt soreness in that shoulder for the rest of his career, making it harder for him to hit left-handed.

In Ohtani’s case, we’re getting ahead of ourselves if we try to anticipate how this injury could affect the right-hander’s ability to pitch next season. But why do I suspect his days as a member of the 50-Steal Club could be over?

Hank Greenberg — Boy, sliding can be hazardous to an MVP’s health, because that’s also how Greenberg got hurt during the 1935 World Series.

In Game 2, the Tigers’ future Hall of Famer was trying to score from first base on a single to center. But Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett fell on him during a collision at the plate, and Greenberg’s wrist got trapped underneath him.

Greenberg injured his wrist and elbow — and missed the rest of the World Series. But the Tigers managed to beat the Cubs in six games even without him.

Here’s the complete list of position players who were injured in the postseason, during their MVP season, and weren’t able to play in all of their team’s games that October:

SEASON TEAM PLAYER PLAYER GAMES TEAM GAMES

1988

Dodgers

Kirk Gibson

8

12

1957

Yankees

Mickey Mantle

6

7

1935

Tigers

Hank Greenberg

2

6

(Source: STATS Perform)

Normally, when we delve into the parallels of history in these October Weird and Wild columns, it’s a lot more fun than this. But hey, we’re a full-service column, here to serve you no matter what.

Now, in other World Series Weirdness and Wildness …

Then there’s the other (likely) MVP


Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Game 2. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

I wish I could tell you I had more upbeat news about the other MVP in this World Series — that Aaron Judge guy. But yikes!

I’ll skip over most of his gory numbers and focus just on this one:

Judge with runners in scoring position in this postseason: 0-for-10

Baseball is a strange and mysterious sport — but not usually this mysterious. During the regular season, Judge drove in 144 runs, the most in baseball, and in fact, the most by anyone since Ryan Howard knocked in 146 in 2008.

In a related development, with runners in scoring position this season, Judge hit .336/.509/.711. Which is slightly better than 0-for-10!

So I got to wondering: Has the major-league leader in RBIs ever gone 0-for-the-postseason with runners in scoring position (RISP), with as many plate appearances as Judge has had this October? And that answer, according to STATS is … no!

And if Judge doesn’t pick it up over the next week, he could rise to first on the list of most at-bats by a top-five finisher in RBIs who went 0-for-the-postseason with RISP:

Willie Stargell, 1971 (2nd) — 0-for-13
Andy Pafko, 1945 (4th) — 0-for-10
Aaron Judge, 2024 (1st) — 0-for-10

(Source: STATS Perform)

But STATS also dug into this another way. They found the longest postseason hitless streaks with men in scoring position, by major-league RBI leaders who at least eventually got a hit. Judge is also third on that list — for now.

Jose Canseco, 1988 — 0-for-18
Manny Ramirez, 1999 — 0-for-16
Aaron Judge, 2024 — 0-for-10*

 (*streak still active)

So the Yankees masher’s struggles are getting historic — in all the wrong ways. Because you know what can be really hard to do sometimes? That would be to hit … a …

Baseball!

Fully loaded

Final inning. Two outs. Bases loaded. The winning run on base. Sound familiar?

That was how Game 1 of this World Series ended. And …

It was also how Game 2 of this World Series ended.

And on the first pitch of those two at-bats …

Two very different finishes happened: A Freddie Freeman walk-off slam in Game 1 … as opposed to a Jose Trevino rally-crushing fly ball to center in Game 2.

Nevertheless, wasn’t it the most Weird and Wild thing ever that both games ended with the bases loaded and the potential winning run on base? Yes would be a good answer.

The Elias Sports Bureau looked into this and found two other World Series in which back-to-back games ended with the bases loaded and two outs.

• 1980 Royals-Phillies, Games 5-6

• 1937 Giants-Yankees, Games 2-3

But here’s what you need to know: Actually, no two back-to-back World Series games have ever ended like this!

In Games 1 and 2 of this World Series, each team had a chance to tie or win at the end of one of these games. That is not how it worked in 1980 or 1937.

In 1980, Phillies closer Tug McGraw loaded the bases in the ninth inning two games in a row — but escaped. So he slurped up two saves, and the Phillies won both games, the second of which won them the World Series — with the field lined by police horses!

And in 1937, the first of those two games was an 8-1 blowout in the ninth. So that game never reached the point where the lead could change hands, even though the bases were loaded.

Which leaves only Games 1 and 2 of this World Series as true down-to-the-wire classics where both offenses had their chances. Anyone interested in going for three in a row? We’ll vote “yes” for that!

It is high, it is far, it is … late!


Giancarlo Stanton has been battering baseballs — late — in this postseason. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

Giancarlo Stanton didn’t hit a home run Saturday. So that was different. But after his over-the-rainbow, 35-degree launch angle moon shot Friday, I noticed something.

Home runs by Stanton in this postseason — 6
Stanton home runs in the sixth inning or later — also 6

That’s right. Stanton has launched all six of his homers in this postseason in the late innings. And if you’re thinking that must be a record, excellent thinking!

Most HR in the 6th inning or later in one postseason

Giancarlo Stanton, 2024

6

Nelson Cruz, 2011

6

Ken Griffey Jr., 1995

5

Troy Glaus, 2002

5

(Source: STATS Perform)

So Stanton has tied this record … and have I mentioned that this World Series isn’t over yet? So this could totally happen.

Meanwhile, in other news, Stanton did hit a single in Game 2. Which is noteworthy because … he hadn’t hit one of those in over two weeks (since Oct. 10). In between, he hit …

Zero singles.

Zero doubles.

Zero triples.

But …

Five home runs.

He’s quite a show when he’s this Giancarlo Stanton, isn’t he?

(Hat tip for that singles note: Marquee Sports Network’s Chris Kamka.)

Party of Four


Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the $325M man, delivered in Game 2. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)

OK, just a few more things you need to know …

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto started Game 2 for the Dodgers — and gave up one hit (a Juan Soto homer) in 6 1/3 innings. Did you know …

The last starting pitcher to work that many innings or more in a Dodgers-Yankees World Series game and allow one hit or none was a fellow named …

Don Larsen, in a 1956 World Series classic you should google sometime.

• Freddie Freeman homered Friday, in a bid to be the subject of a major motion picture some day — or at least an ESPN “30 for 30.” We’ve written many words about that one already, so need to recap it here. But then …

Freeman homered again Saturday, in Game 2 of this World Series. And why would I mention that? Oh, possibly because …

You know how many times Freeman homered in back-to-back games at Dodger Stadium during this regular season? Right you are. That would be none.

• More Freeman coverage (if that’s OK with you): In retrospect, it might not have been that great an idea to issue that intentional walk to Mookie Betts to get to Freeman on Friday night. Here’s why …

In the 2000s, want to guess who ranks No. 1 in the entire sport in average with runners in scoring position, among hitters with as many plate appearances in those situations as Freeman? That would be …

Yep! Freddie Freeman.

1. Freddie Freeman — .333

2. Miguel Caberera — .326

3. Todd Helton — .322

(Source: Baseball Reference/Stathead)

And finally …

• Fernando Valenzuela was honored in so many ways by the Dodgers during Games 1 and 2 of this World Series. But in case you hadn’t noticed, life in Fernando’s era was slightly different from this era. By which I mean …

During “Fernandomania” in 1981, Valenzuela pitched nine innings in eight starts in a row (although one of them went 10 innings). So think about this …

The Dodgers’ bullpen during Fernandomania: four batters faced in eight games (all in extra innings)!

The Dodgers’ bullpen just since the start of this NLCS: 700 pitches in eight games!

The Yankees’ bullpen just since the start of this ALCS: 526 pitches in seven games!

So I decided to let a few members of the two bullpens in this World Series in on those numbers, then asked: Which era would you rather be a relief pitcher in — this one or that one? Here’s what one of them had to say.

YANKEES RELIEVER TOMMY KAHNLE: “It’s kind of a double-edged sword. I would say I do like getting out there a lot.”

WEIRD AND WILD: “Well, you’ll never have to worry about somebody throwing eight complete games in a row in your era.”

KAHNLE (laughing): “OK, I would love that, to be honest. There are times (when you’re overworked) where you’re like, ‘Please, go nine.’”

Hey, you can feel his pain. But eight games in a row? I’m pretty sure he’ll have to pray much harder to make that happen here in …

Baseball! (In 2024!)

(Top photo: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)



Zrodlo

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