It seems incredibly silly now, as this magical, historic player sits on the verge of winning the AL MVP award, but I believe the way I described my interest for fantasy baseball purposes in Los Angeles Angels DH/SP Shohei Ohtani back in March was "let someone else deal with it." Yep, I foolishly wanted someone else to deal with 45 HR, 95 RBI, 23 SB, plus 9 wins in 22 starts, 146 strikeouts, a 3.28 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP (through Sept. 22).
Meanwhile, I apparently wanted to deal with New York Mets 1B/OF Dominic Smith, Houston Astros RHP Zack Greinke, Toronto Blue Jays 2B Cavan Biggio, Chicago Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks, Pittsburgh Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and Philadelphia Phillies 3B Alec Bohm instead.
Well, I mean, when you put it that way, it sounds really bad.
Ohtani is the only choice for fantasy MVP of the 2021 season. The season is not yet over, but it does not matter. Nobody has ever achieved -- statistically or otherwise -- what Ohtani did in 2021. We're talking about the unbelievable combination of hitting and pitching prowess in the same season. I do believe I thought that Ohtani was capable of strong offensive numbers, even the steals, but only if the Angels did not use him on the mound. We all worried about him staying healthy -- and for good reason. How could anyone be this effective in hitting and pitching at the same time? Babe Ruth never did this! It could not be done, we all said confidently.