“It’s crazy to be able to have [him] be a good pitcher and, on top of that, be able to produce at the plate. It’s not very common.”

The “him” in that statement is Shohei Ohtani , of course. We just saw him shine as a pitcher and at the plate on Friday night in perhaps the greatest performance in MLB history .

But if you think those words came out of the Brewers’ clubhouse after they were swept out of the NLCS by the reigning World Series champions, you would be mistaken.

Those words weren’t spoken Friday or last week or even within the last decade.

That quote about Ohtani came from then-Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker … in November 2014.

Ohtani, then just 20 years old, was likely the most famous player in Nippon Professional Baseball already. His fastball could touch 101 mph . Hi

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