Babe’s kin can relate to Ohtani hype
Babe Ruth’s grandson isn’t ready to anoint Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani the next Babe Ruth.
“He’s a long way from being Babe,” Tom Stevens, Ruth’s only living grandson, told USA TODAY. “But let’s say he’s doing things Ruthian.”
Ohtani, a rookie with the Los Angeles Angels and the first major leaguer to hit and pitch on a regular basis since Ruth, is off to a torrid start. He hit home runs in three consecutive games at Angel Stadium, and he has been dominant on the mound in his first two starts, even taking a perfect game into the seventh inning Sunday in a 6-1 victory against the Oakland Athletics.
Going into Thursday’s game against the Royals at Kansas City, Ohtani was hitting .364 with three homers and eight RBI and expressed a desire for a larger offensive role after a 1-for-3 game Wednesday night. As a pitcher he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 18 strikeouts and two walks in 13 innings. He is scheduled to pitch again Sunday against the Royals.
Of Ohtani’s two-way play, Ruth’s grandson said, “Whether he’s going to be able to keep that up, he seems to have the ability, which of course is the first thing. But even a youngster like himself, I’m not sure how long he can withstand the toll on his body. Babe certainly did it, but he only did it for a couple of years.”
Ruth pitched and batted regularly from 1915 to 1919 with the Boston Red Sox before he focused on hitting and swatted 714 home runs.
Stevens said he welcomes the comparisons between Ohtani and his grandfather because it keeps Ruth’s legacy alive. That certainly sounded like the sentiment of Stevens’ mother — Ruth’s 101-year-old daughter Julia Ruth Stevens — as she and her son drove for dinner in Henderson, Nev. “I think it’s terrific,” Julia Ruth Stevens said. “It’s wonderful for Japan, and it’s wonderful for baseball.”
But the next Babe Ruth? Even though Ruth Stevens said she hasn’t seen Ohtani play, it’s highly unlikely she’d make that pronouncement after watching the original Babe Ruth up close.
“He was one in a million,” she said of her father.