Baseball fans did little to hide their frustration with MLB and Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani after the league revealed their pick for the No. 1 play of the 2024 season
Baseball fans have a bone to pick with Shohei Ohtani and MLB after the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was awarded the “No. 1 play of 2024” over teammate Freddie Freeman.
On Tuesday, MLB concluded its countdown of the top 100 plays from the 2024 campaign by crowning Ohtani as the holder of the greatest moment. Earlier this year, the 30-year-old made history as the first player in the league to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
One inning later, Ohtani drilled an opposite-field homer off Mike Baumann to permanently etch his name in the history books. The two-way phenom wasn’t done yet, however, clearing the outfield fence one more time in the ninth inning.
When the dust had finally settled on the Los Angeles’ 20-4 victory over Miami, Ohtani finished a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate with 10 RBI – the most ever recorded by a Dodgers player in a single game since the statistic became official in 1920.
Taking to social media, however, droves of MLB fans argued that Ohtani’s historic day was not in fact the best play of the season. Rather, many insisted that Freeman’s big moment in the World Series was more deserving of the top spot.
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In the 10th inning of Game 1, Freeman unloaded on the first pitch he saw from New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes – sending the ball 413 feet for the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.
“Those are the kind of things, when you’re five years old with your two older brothers and you’re playing Wiffle ball in the backyard – those are the scenarios you kind of dream about,” Freeman told reporters after the game. “Bases loaded, two outs in a World Series game, and for it to actually happen and hit a home run, and walk it off to give us a 1-0 lead, that’s as good as it gets right there.”
It appears as though fans would agree with Freeman. “I thought it was ‘plays’ and not ‘games’ – As a Dodger fan I can safely tell you play number one was BY FAR AND AWAY Freddie Freeman’s Grand Slam. Stop it. It’s not even close,” one X user wrote, with another adding: “Shohei Ohtani would be the very first to tell you that Freddie Freeman’s walkoff grand slam was *by far* the biggest moment of the 2024 season.”
Addressing Ohtani’s 50-50 season, a third chimed in: “Ah yes cuz the walkoff World Series winning HR was less great than stat padding against the plumbers.”
