Ohtani is doing things never done before. He's gonna be the GOAT.
To me it will always be Ruth. He literally changed the way the game was played. He hit more HRs than entire teams in a single season.
From 1915-1935 Ruth himself hit more HR’s than the entire Red Sox team combined! Just think about that. He was on a completely different level during his time period.
But Ohtani is certainly something with pitching and hitting. Ruth was actually a good pitcher too, but stopped.
For pitching, i think Koufax was the best all time. Especially since he pitched injured alot. He was just incredible.
Also: i disagree with this entire premise. I think we are actually watching some of the worst period of sports outside of hockey.
Hockey- the game is probably played at the best level ever. Tenacious, quick, a good amount of goals.
MLB- the golden age was probably in the 50’s-60’s, but to MLB credit they are trying to quicken up the pace of play. But still too many strikeouts and lack of action. Batting avgs and balls in play were much higher than now.
Basketball- probably the 90’s were the golden age. Defense was still important, there was an inside game with great centers, more contact was allowed and the game was not just 3ball or dunk. The pro game is definitely worse to watch now. I used to love the pro game but i can only watch college bbal now.
Football- NFL football was probably at its peak in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, but the 70’s through the 90’s all had memorable runs. The game revolves around passing now, QB play has been kind of atrocious for the most part outside of a few, penalties galore, tackling technique is garbage and the game itself got wussified. Also with colleges going through NIL and constant transfers players are less and less ready to make the jump, especially QBs.