Who is more dominant in their sport: Ohtani, McDavid or Mahomes?

[983 others]

The goalie comparison is flawed.

More like if McDavid also had Bergerons defensive and control

not even close

every single skater plays offense and defense (to some degree at least)

nobody does what ohtani does

 

[ZDH]

It's Ohtani.

If McDavid played goal as well as Sorokin I'd go McDavid. But he can't - he's a shit goaltender.

 

[DJJones]

not even close

every single skater plays offense and defense (to some degree at least)

nobody does what ohtani does

Yes no one dominates like that going both ways. That was my point.

Maybe Crosby for a couple years

 

[TheStatican]

And my counter to that is that it's a matter of circumstance, because Ruth didn't have the DH position to be able to just hit on his days off from pitching. Or should we all just pretend that Ohtani would have been able to do this without the DH position being introduced? Or without pitch counts drastically limiting the wear and tear on pitchers?

Oh so your talking about a bunch of hypothetical what "could have/would have beens" and not actual baseball history, gotcha

 

[JumpierPegasus]

Ohtani is the most gifted and incredible athlete I've ever had the pleasure of watching, and we are lucky to be alive in a time where a player of his calibre exists. I don't know if we will ever see this again.

McDavid and Mahomes are incredible. Mahomes has the team accomplishments but there are some other quarterbacks I'd be willing to put near his level (Allen, Burrow). I don't put anyone near McDavid's level in hockey

So it prob goes Ohtani >>> McDavid => Mahomes

 

[PettersonHughes]

If McDavid was also a hitting and shot blocking machine, then his range of influence would be comparable.

Same with Mahomes (or football players in general) throwing, catching, running, blocking and playing defense, all in the same guy.

Of course Ohtani doesn't field but it has the same effect of limiting the opposing offense if they can't even get the ball hit far and their guy onto the base paths.

 

[Three On Zero]

Nobody in Asia gives a shit about baseball. Cricket dwarfs baseball and always will. Don't want to sound rude or anything

You clearly don’t know much about baseball and that comment shows it

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Ohtani fairly easily

Only athletes who could compare were Jordan, Brady, maybe Tiger at their peak

Bolt? Phelps? Ali? Cr7/Messi?

 

[amnesiac]

Bolt? Phelps? Ali? Cr7/Messi?

all great athletes, but I dont consider someone runs (swims) in a straight line on the same level as a Brady, Jordan, Gretzky, Ohtani who have a much tougher mental aspect top their game, as well as facing a defence etc

Ali possibly, but isnt necessarily unanimously the GOAT boxer.

Ronaldo is not for sure. Messi you could make the argument, but many will say Pele.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

all great athletes, but I dont consider someone runs (swims) in a straight line on the same level as a Brady, Jordan, Gretzky, Ohtani who have a much tougher mental aspect top their game, as well as facing a defence etc

Ali possibly, but isnt necessarily unanimously the GOAT boxer.

Ronaldo is not for sure. Messi you could make the argument, but many will say Pele.

Both Messi and ronaldo are top 2 all time imo and in a lot of minds. As for Pele I have Maradona over him as my number 3. Ali is the greatest heavyweight of all time that is for certain sorry Joe Louis. All of these guys named are greater than Jordan, Brady, and tiger. I'd have the novak djokovic over them as well

 

[amnesiac]

Nobody in Asia gives a shit about baseball. Cricket dwarfs baseball and always will. Don't want to sound rude or anything

what????

Team Japan delivers record ratings during WBC

Japan’s run to a World Baseball Classic win delivered huge TV numbers in the country, including the best WBC rating in any country in the history of the event.

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Japan’s run to a World Baseball Classic win delivered huge TV numbers in the country, including the best WBC rating in any country in the history of the event. Japan’s championship win against the U.S. did not have the biggest audience (it aired on a weekday morning in Japan). Instead, it was the country’s quarterfinal win over Italy, which drew around 38 million viewers to TV Asahi. That’s the audience equivalent of what an NFL Divisional playoff game does in the U.S. The game had a 48.7 local rating in Japan, which is second-best telecast ever on TV Asahi, behind only the Japan-Croatia FIFA World Cup group stage match from 2006 (52.7). Japan-Italy was not only the best WBC game ever in any country, but that game (along with Japan-South Korea from the first round of the WBC) outdrew every live sports telecasts from the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics on Japanese TV.

 

[amnesiac]

Both Messi and ronaldo are top 2 all time imo and in a lot of minds. As for Pele I have Maradona over him as my number 3. Ali is the greatest heavyweight of all time that is for certain sorry Joe Louis. All of these guys named are greater than Jordan imo.

Ali I can see up there with the GOATs, boxing is indeed one of the tougher sports on the planet.

As for Messi/Ronald over Jordan, I dont see it..... 6 consecutive NBA Championships and MVPs (lets face it, he wouldve had 8 in 8) is as dominant as anything weve seen in sports history along with Brady's Superbowls and Gretzky's 9 consecutive Harts (which I forgot to mention ironically).

If Ohtani continues this for many seasons, hes definitely amongst the GOATs.

 

[NyQuil]

what????

Team Japan delivers record ratings during WBC

Japan’s run to a World Baseball Classic win delivered huge TV numbers in the country, including the best WBC rating in any country in the history of the event.

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Japan’s run to a World Baseball Classic win delivered huge TV numbers in the country, including the best WBC rating in any country in the history of the event. Japan’s championship win against the U.S. did not have the biggest audience (it aired on a weekday morning in Japan). Instead, it was the country’s quarterfinal win over Italy, which drew around 38 million viewers to TV Asahi. That’s the audience equivalent of what an NFL Divisional playoff game does in the U.S. The game had a 48.7 local rating in Japan, which is second-best telecast ever on TV Asahi, behind only the Japan-Croatia FIFA World Cup group stage match from 2006 (52.7). Japan-Italy was not only the best WBC game ever in any country, but that game (along with Japan-South Korea from the first round of the WBC) outdrew every live sports telecasts from the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics on Japanese TV.

Now do mainland Asia which is the whole reason cricket came up in the first place.

 

[T REX]

The fact that some of you compare hitting and pitching ad a comparable to playing forward and goaltending is pretty far fetched. Just because Ohtani is a unique player who is pretty good at pitching while being a great hitter doesnt take away the fact that he is nowhere near as dominant as McDavid at one single aspect. McDavid has been dominating the big leagues since he was 19. Where was Ohtani ? McDavid has 2 not 1 , seasons where he would have gotten over 150. He has over 14 trophies in his arsenal at the tender age of 26 and led the nearest player in the league not on his team by nearly 40 points.

Just because he plays hockey where it technically isn't feasible for the same player to play goaltending and forward in the same game, hockey fans can turn around and tell you Ohtani can't skate 40 kph stick handling at warp speed changing directions on a dime while processing the game at the same speed as McDavid you would laugh.

Ohtani has a lot of awards and accolades to win before he can be classified as more dominant than 97. American fans Def voting Ohtani around here just like to represent the borefest that is baseball.

Wake me up when the World series is on. The way some of yall talk about Ohtani, you would have thought he was a multiple time MLB champion

Please do not use fake numbers to make a point.

Ohtani is doing things never done before in 150 years of baseball.

Doing it. Not almost did it. Doing it. It is insane.

 

[Regal]

Please do not use fake numbers to make a point.

Ohtani is doing things never done before in 150 years of baseball.

Doing it. Not almost did it. Doing it. It is insane.

Weird response considering Ohtani’s season is also projection right now. While unique, neither of his two previous years stand out in terms of overall value compared to the usual top couple players every year.

 

[Soundwave]

I don't really watch baseball that much, I get Ohtani is great because of the multi-positional thing but is there a reason why he only has 1 MVP at age 28?

It would seem like he should have 3-4 already given the hype? Also looks like he's never been no.1 in the MLB for runs (no.2 in 2021?). McDavid has won the scoring title 5/7 years.

The only team sport athletes with that kind of explosive scoring dominance are Michael Jordan won the scoring title 6/7 first seasons and Wayne Gretzky it looks like (6/7).

It's actually kinda wild that McDavid already has as many MVP trophies as Tom Brady got.

 

[T REX]

Weird response considering Ohtani’s season is also projection right now. While unique, neither of his two previous years stand out in terms of overall value compared to the usual top couple players every year.

He's already broken several babe Ruth records... it's absolutely insane

 

[Cas]

I don't really watch baseball that much, I get Ohtani is great because of the multi-positional thing but is there a reason why he only has 1 MVP at age 28?

It would seem like he should have 3-4 already given the hype? Also looks like he's never been no.1 in the MLB for runs (no.2 in 2021?). McDavid has won the scoring title 5/7 years.

The only team sport athletes with that kind of explosive scoring dominance are Michael Jordan won the scoring title 6/7 first seasons and Wayne Gretzky it looks like (6/7).

It's actually kinda wild that McDavid already has as many MVP trophies as Tom Brady got.

The run scoring title doesn't mean all that much in baseball.

Ohtani has really only been OHTANI for two and a half years now, so he's won one of the two MVPs he could realistically have won. He's likely to win this year if he is healthy. He has legitimately been awesome over the last two-plus years, and it's not that he's multipositional, but that he's generating good-to-great value in each direction.

 

[SabreOil]

I don't really watch baseball that much, I get Ohtani is great because of the multi-positional thing but is there a reason why he only has 1 MVP at age 28?

It would seem like he should have 3-4 already given the hype? Also looks like he's never been no.1 in the MLB for runs (no.2 in 2021?). McDavid has won the scoring title 5/7 years.

The only team sport athletes with that kind of explosive scoring dominance are Michael Jordan won the scoring title 6/7 first seasons and Wayne Gretzky it looks like (6/7).

It's actually kinda wild that McDavid already has as many MVP trophies as Tom Brady got.

The run scoring title doesn't mean all that much in baseball.

Ohtani has really only been OHTANI for two and a half years now, so he's won one of the two MVPs he could realistically have won. He's likely to win this year if he is healthy. He has legitimately been awesome over the last two-plus years, and it's not that he's multipositional, but that he's generating good-to-great value in each direction.

What the above poster said plus to add on to it, Ohtani didn't come to America till he was 23(He's now 28 and in his 6th mlb season) and he dealt with a lot of injuries in his first 3 seasons (only played 55% of the possible games).

 

[Regal]

He's already broken several babe Ruth records... it's absolutely insane

This is the mentality that is overrating him. Breaking records due to the obscurity of being both a good hitter and good pitcher is a neat scenario but it isn’t more valuable in itself than being best of the best at either. Last year he was a high end starter and a good DH. The year before that he was a high end DH and a good starter. In both seasons, his combined WAR was under 10, and Judge was the better player last year than Shohei was last year or in his MVP season. Neither year was anything special compared to the best of other all time greats like Bonds, ARod, etc. And both were lower on the list of best MLB seasons than McDavid was among the best NHL seasons this year.

This year, he’s both the best hitter and a high end pitcher and continuing his pace would put him up as one of the most valuable seasons of all time. But it is still halfway through the year. Touting him as this GOAT type player is mostly based on pace from this season, and no different than projecting McDavid’s ‘21 season, just as the previous poster was doing.

 

[Mike C]

Comparisons between Mahomes and McDavid is tough. One player is on the field for nearly half the game. Touches the ball on every offensive play. The other plays 20 minutes a night and an elite #1 C by default will never be as critical as having an elite QB. You can win a cup these days without an elite #1 C. Go take a look at the past 14 SB winners. Minus two all time defenses, you aren't winning a SB without an elite QB and/or a QB playing elite going into the game.

Ohtani is probably the most dominant. But his impact, due to the nature of baseball, has not made an impact on the Angels winning.

My comparison between Mahomes and McDavid is not difficult at all. One puts his team on his back and wins championships and the other doesn't

 

[Soundwave]

The run scoring title doesn't mean all that much in baseball.

Ohtani has really only been OHTANI for two and a half years now, so he's won one of the two MVPs he could realistically have won. He's likely to win this year if he is healthy. He has legitimately been awesome over the last two-plus years, and it's not that he's multipositional, but that he's generating good-to-great value in each direction.

In that case though I give it to McDavid. Pretty much since being a sophomore, McDavid has arguably been the best individual player in his sport aside from the one year for Kucherov.

 

[ru4reals]

I understand it has been 100 years since a player was this good of a pitcher and hitter, but Babe Ruth existed. Was a top 5 pitcher and well we all know about his hitting.

Never did what Ohtani is doing at the same time. Not taking away anything from the Babe but Ohtani is just not normal.

 

[BruinsFan37]

If you're just talking talent/skill within their respective sports. It's Ohtani and it's not even close. What Ohtani does would be like if McDavid scored 50 goals/season -- as a goalie. Or if Mahomes lead the league in Touchdown Passes and interceptions (by him playing defense) returned for touchdowns. In this case its: Ohtani > McDavid > Mahomes

If you're taking skill + media presence/visibility it's Mahomes and it's not even close. Most people, even those who don't follow football (American) know Mahonmes thanks to his ubiquitous presence in commercials (State Farm/Subway/etc.). He also has the (major) advantage of playing the in the most popular North American sport. Ohtani and McDavid, if you don't follow their respective sports, you "might" recognize the names, but you prolly wouldn't recognize them if they passed you in the street (McDavid especially). Mahomes on the other hand a non-fan would prolly say "hey that's the State Farm guy(etc)" if they ran into him. In this case its: Mahomes > Ohtani > McDavid.

Either way, McDavid loses.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Oh so your talking about a bunch of hypothetical what "could have/would have beens" and not actual baseball history, gotcha

Is pointing out that Ruth both pitched decently well in 14 games and led the league in a bunch of batting metrics in a single season (1919) not actual baseball history? Or is pointing out that Ruth never had the opportunity to just hit on the days he wasn't pitching in Boston because the DH position wasn't introduced until 1973 not actual baseball history?

What Ohtani is doing is impressive, but unless you ignore all context, it's hard to agree with the claim that he's the ONLY person to ever do this when Ruth did something very similar in a much different era.