How will APBA cardmakers handle LA Angel Shohei Ohtani? A player in his situation has not occurred in recent memory. I know the Illowa APBA League group text has been chatting about this all season.
For those not following the Angels, Ohtani is a rookie pitcher who also performs the duties of designated hitter. He has done quite well in both capacities so far. Unfortunately for him and the Angels, he has very recently been recommended to have Tommy John surgery due to a UCL tear (that didn’t stop him from hitting two more homeruns the day after).
As of now, Ohtani might eke out a B grade as a pitcher. Check out his hitting card courtesy of Steve Stein’s Card Computer. As of now, he has five power numbers!
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But here’s the issue when it comes to APBA… the only time Shohei Ohtani has taken the field was in the role as a pitcher. Technically, the APBA can’t add a second position because he didn’t play one. Currently, there is no “DH” position in APBA.
I remember when I had Don Baylor on my Illowa APBA League team. It was his card based on his 1982 stats. He had played 157 games, all of them as a DH. I remember APBA made him a 1B-2. Why? Because in 1981, he DHed in 97 games, played first base in four games and the outfield in one game.
But Ohtani is a rookie in the MLB and hasn’t played any games anywhere other than pitcher in a U.S. baseball game. One option: If APBA chooses, they can refer to his time with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters when he played the outfield.
The idea of a “DH” position might be appealing for replayers but it would still not solve the issue for APBA leagues (and tournaments). Some APBA leagues and tournaments don’t use the DH and finding a way to use Ohtani’s tasty 247 (so far) at-bats would be hard.
To complicate matters, our league has detailed rules on player usage. A player can be used for all of his actual games and at-bats at his primary position but secondary positions are limited depending on how many they actually played. Under IAL rules, if APBA did add OF-1 to his card, he would be eligible to play one IAL game. That might prompt an “Ohtani rule”. The IAL may be overly litigious but maybe not. Other leagues may have similar rules.
I know that despite the impending surgery, my buddy Don Smith (an Angels fan) has his eye on Ohtani. “Babe Ruth of baseball”, he says.
Photo by hj_west from USA – Angels @ Mariners May 6 2018, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
This has been the subject of much discussion in the O.Z. League where the DH is not used. I personally hope that APBA grades him exactly how he played : Pitcher and Designated Hitter. I hope he does not get a OF1 or 1B2 or anything like that. He has the chance to become APBA’s first actual DH as a “position”….let the Leagues decide how they want to use him.
I don’t think it’s a problem for the game company. They don’t need to put in a fake position. BUT they could use the ’74 Herb Washington card (where the position was “Pinchrunner”) and state DH as the position on the card. That would solve the TBL constitution question (since the TBL rules prohibit pitchers from pinch-hitting).
I agree with the above. No harm in the gameco labeling him as a Pitcher with DH as a second position (or reverse, as he’ll have more PA as a hitter than BF as a pitcher). To leagues that disallow the DH I’d imagine he’d be limited to PH duties. What did such leagues do w Papi & Edgar?