BACK TO THE PRESENT - The Greatest Game in Baseball History

Major news outlets today are calling Shohei Ohtani's performance last night the greatest game in baseball history.

DODGER STADIUM - October 17, 2025

The Sports Time Traveler is making a rare report from the present time. I have been prompted to break from my traditional coverage of sports contests from 50+ years ago because of the mind-bending spectacle most of you have probably already witnessed either on TV or via social media.

If you were one of the 52,883 fans that packed into Dodger Stadium last night, you will be able to hopefully tell people 50+ years from now about the historic game you saw live.

Three major news outlets - The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times all described what Shohei Ohtani did last night with the exact same phrase. They called it, “The Greatest Game in Baseball History.” It’s a designation that is inherently subjective, yet there is no doubt that Ohtani’s performance is deserving of consideration.

There have been over 350,000 games played in major league baseball going back to 1876. It’s not an easy thing to assess which one contained the greatest performance by an individual player.

But it is hard to imagine anyone has ever topped anything like what we saw Ohtani do last night.

If you missed the game or just haven’t seen the stats here’s what Ohtani did:

• Pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 10.

• Hit 3 home runs and had a walk. He never made an out.

In the 1st inning, Ohtani struck out 3 straight Brewers.

The last 2 pitches were breaking balls that quite simply looked like magic to me.

Watch at the 4:15 mark of this YouTube highlights video of Ohtani’s pitching last night. You’ll see 2 of the most stunning pitches I’ve ever seen that both went for swinging strikes.

The pitching performance was the icing on the cake. Because Ohtani, in 3 official at-bats, hit 3 home runs. In his other plate appearance, he walked.

Every time he wasn’t walked, he hit a home run.

Ohtani never made an out at the plate and he never allowed a run on the mound. Ponder that for a bit. Has anyone ever had a game like this?

And if you’re still not convinced, then take a look at this short video of Ohtani’s 2nd home run. It was a legendary, over-the-roof shot to centerfield, a tremendous jaw-dropping blast.

Now further add to your consideration that this was no ordinary game. This was the CLINCHING game for a National League Championship. The Dodgers, thanks to Ohtani’s one-man show last night, have just swept the Brewers, who had the best record in baseball this year, and are headed to the World Series.

COMPARING OHTANI’s GREATEST GAME TO OTHER CONTENDERS

I naturally had to take a look back in time to see if anyone has ever had a game like Ohtani’s.

Don Larsen’s Perfect Game

I first went to October 8, 1956, to game 5 of the 1956 World Series. This was Don Larsen’s perfect game. Larsen gave the Yankees a 3 games to 2 edge over the Dodgers in the series. The Dodgers evened the series the next day, and the Yankees won game 7. So Larsen’s game, as great as it was, wasn’t a clincher.

But what did Larsen do at the plate that day? If he had gone 2 for 3 and drove in a couple of runs, Larsen’s unsurpassed pitching performance might have made the case that he had a greater game than Ohtani did last night. But at the plate that day in the Fall of ‘56, Larsen was 0 for 2 with a bunt sacrifice in his only other plate appearance. His outs were a pop foul and a swinging strikeout. It was not a day to remember with his bat.

Babe Ruth’s World Series Shutout

For my next contender, I zipped back in time to September 5, 1918 to game 1 of the World Series.

Wait! What? The World Series started on September 5th?

Yes, the Fall Classic was played in the Summer in 1918, due to a war-shortened schedule.

And Babe Ruth opened the series with a gem - a 6 hit shutout of the Chicago Cubs that gave the Ruth’s Red Sox a 1 game to none lead. Ruth also won game 4, 4 days later, throwing a solid 8 innings in which he allowed just 2 earned runs, and the Red Sox were on their way to their last World Series title until 2004.

Ruth’s shutout in the opener could only put him in contention for “greatest game” if he had a Ruthian day at the plate. But in that game in 1918, Ruth was just 1 for 2 at the plate. Like Larsen, Ruth’s only other plate appearance was a sacrifice bunt. Although Ruth’s 1 hit was a triple that drove in 2 runs, it still puts his overall performance well short of Ohtani’s. And it wasn’t a championship-clinching game either.

Rick Wise’s Big Day

Unless you’re a baseball history fanatic, you probably have never heard of Rick Wise. He was one of a number of solid starting pitchers in baseball during the 1970s. And 50 years this week, he was the winner of game 6 of the 1975 World Series. That’s the famous game in which Carlton Fisk hit the walk-off over the Green Monster in the 12th inning. That was Fisk’s big day. But Wise’s biggest day happened 4 years earlier.

On June 23, 1971, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Rick Wise, pitching for the Phillies tossed a no-hitter. There have been lots of no-hitters of course, but there is only one in history in which the pitcher also connected for 2 home runs.

It is certainly a stunning game. But it was a regular season game, pitting two sub .500 teams. And in Wise’s 2 other at bats he grounded out. It just doesn’t compare to what Ohtani did last night.

Reggie’s 3 Homers on 3 Pitches

For my last contender, I go to a game that I’m very partial to. It holds a special appeal to me because I attended this one in person at Yankee Stadium with my dad on October 18, 1977.

Reggie Jackson did something no one else has done in World Series history. He hit 3 home runs on consecutive pitches that he saw.

In Jackson’s 1st plate appearance leading off the bottom of the 2nd, he walked. In that plate appearance, Jackson never had a pitch thrown to him in the strike zone.

In the bottom of the 4th, with the Yankees down 3 - 2 and Thurman Munson on 1st base, Jackson sent the 1st pitch he saw from Burt Hooten deep into the right field seats. I sadly didn’t see the homer as I had gone out to get a hot dog.

In the bottom of the 5th, with the Yankees leading 5 - 3, and Willie Randolph on 1st base, Reggie ripped the 1st pitch he saw from Elias Sosa over the right field wall. I missed this one as well, as I was in the bathroom.

In the bottom of the 8th, with the Yanks ahead 8 - 3, Jackson led off. On the 1st pitch of the inning from Charlie Hough, Jackson hit a tremendous drive deep into the blackened centerfield seats (where tickets weren’t sold) that served as a backdrop for batters.

I saw that one. It was unforgettable.

My dad and I have been fortunate to have had many special sports spectator experiences together, but this one has to be at the top.

You can see it here:

Jackson’s game was certainly special. And it was a World Series clinching game. By winning the game, the Yankees closed out the Dodgers 4 games to 2.

But Jackson didn’t pitch as Ohtani did.

And Jackson had just an average day in the field. He made good on the few balls that were hit to him. Although in the top of the 1st, he arguably could have made a better play on a ground ball that went all the way to the wall in the right field corner and enabled the Dodgers to put up the game’s first 2 runs. Jackson didn’t do anything wrong on the play. He just didn’t do anything special. He threw to the cut off man in short right. He didn’t attempt to nail the lead runner at the plate or the runner heading to 3rd. It is quite possible that he had no play on them either. But if he had been able to make a Roberto Clemente type throw to save a run, then I could’ve held up Jackson’s game against Ohtani’s.

And so I have to say that as a result of my sports time travels, I can’t find a game that is greater than the one Ohtani played last night.