kept getting better. That's what he does. He keeps getting better. He finds the

gruver rhythm with his fastball. His delivery gets cleaner. And then once he gets ahead in the

count, he's got that wipeout splitter. Then on offense, I mean, he did everything there,

including bunning for a hit. I mean, if you weren't entertained by watching him tonight,

you can't be entertained watching a game of baseball.

That's Angels manager Joe Madden, listing just a few of the things that Shohay Otani did in his

last start as a pitcher, where he struck out nine batters, but then turned around and scored

three times and drove in two.

But not only that, Otani became the first pitcher to start a game while also leading the majors

in home runs in 100 years, something no human had done since Babe Ruth.

Tonight, Otani takes on history again, pitching and hitting in Anaheim.

So Alden Gonzalez traces the trajectory of a modern-day baseball legend.

I'm Pablo Torre.

It's Monday, May 3rd.

This is ESPN Daily.

So full disclosure here, Alden, we had you on the podcast when Mina was hosting to talk about Shohei Otani back before the 2020 season.

Is that right?

That is correct, Pablo.

Alden Gonzalez covers baseball for ESPN, and he is a season guest of this podcast. The first time I went on with

Mina, I don't know if you remember, I like practice saying like, hello Mina. All right, you

ready for some, some hellos? This is a lot of pressure. Okay. I've been thinking about this

moment for an embarrassingly long time.

...