‘Mythological’: The Best Shohei Ohtani Comparison Is Bo Jackson

Mark Gubicza has an idea, and he is just the guy to make it happen. As a pitcher in the 1980s and ’90s, Gubicza was a teammate of Bo Jackson on the Kansas City Royals. As a television analyst now, he calls games for the Los Angeles Angels, the team of Shohei Ohtani. His dream pregame show would bring the two players together.

“Bo Knows Sho,” Gubicza said this week, by the Angels’ dugout at Yankee Stadium. “I think we’re finally going to get it this year.”

Ohtani, the Angels’ pitching and hitting sensation, was born in the summer of 1994, just as Jackson’s celebrated athletic career was ending. Jackson finished as a member of the Angels, of all teams, and played his final game in the very ballpark where Ohtani is forging his own two-way legend.

Jackson was a two-way star in a different sense, the only player ever to be an All-Star in baseball, as an outfielder for the Royals, and a Pro Bowler in football, as a running back for the Los Angeles Raiders. Bo didn’t know pitching, like Ohtani, but he could have.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/sports/baseball/shohei-ohtani-bo-jackson.html