The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays open the World Series on Friday, but all eyes remain on Shohei Ohtani — and deservedly so. Last week, in the fourth game of the National League Championship Series, he led the Dodgers to a league title, hitting a staggering three home runs, while pitching 10 strikeouts and six scoreless innings. Following the game, Ohtani’s teammate Mookie Betts marveled to MLB TV: "We’re like the (Chicago) Bulls and he’s Michael Jordan.”
Betts was likely thinking in baseball terms, and he wasn’t wrong. Ohtani, like Jordan once did, is single-handedly turning his team into a perennial championship contender. But as the legend of Ohtani grows, it’s natural to ask whether he can achieve Jordan’s transcendent cultural status, too.
That’s where the comparisons fall apart. Ohtani will always be a sports superstar, but he’ll likely never be able to match Jordan’s iconic reach and influence. He lacks the advantages that made the NBA legend a global icon: a unified mass media landscape, broad commercial appeal and a sport built to show off individuality.
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