AI Summary
5 min readShohei Ohtani has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season when healthy, striking out 95 batters in 85⅔ innings with a 1.79 ERA across 14 starts. He was a legitimate NL Cy Young contender before knee and biceps injuries sidelined him from pitching since July 3. As a hitter, his numbers are nearly identical to Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong—similar home runs, RBIs, and OPS. And yet, the NL MVP conversation has become a genuine debate between Ohtani and PCA. Ben Maller finds this infuriating, and he spends the episode explaining why.
The homer/hater test
Maller’s central argument is that sports fans are committing what he calls the second-worst sin a fan can commit: taking greatness for granted. He introduces a diagnostic tool he calls the "homer/hater test." The idea is simple: flip the scenario completely and see if your opinion stays consistent. If it changes, your judgment is impaired.
Apply the test to the Ohtani-PCA debate. Imagine that Pete Crow-Armstrong is the one who has pitched 14 games with a sub-2 ERA while also hitting well. And imagine Ohtani is the elite defensive outfielder with the higher WAR. Would anyone be arguing for Ohtani? Maller says no—zero chance. The only reason PCA is in the conversation is that Ohtani has been doing extraordinary things for years, and fans have grown bored.
Voting fatigue and the shoulder shrug
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:00) **Introduction: The NL MVP Race Setup** - Host introduces the NL MVP race between Shohei Ohtani and Pete Crow-Armstrong (PCA), framing it as a discussion about a major sin in sports fandom.
- 2 (05:40) **The Core Argument: Taking Greatness for Granted** - Host argues that dismissing Ohtani’s two-way production is a major sin: fans are taking his greatness for granted.
- 3 (06:36) **The Homer/Hater Test** - Host introduces a mental test to check for bias: flip the production between Ohtani and PCA.
- 4 (09:04) **Babe Ruth Comparison and First-Season Hypothetical** - Host compares Ohtani to an enhanced Babe Ruth and asks listeners to imagine this was Ohtani’s first season pitching.
- 5 (11:16) **Historical Example: Russell Westbrook’s Triple-Doubles** - Host uses Russell Westbrook’s triple-double seasons to illustrate how fans get bored with repeated greatness.
- 6 (12:22) **PCA as "Anne Hathaway" Analogy** - Host compares PCA to actress Anne Hathaway: very good, but not the best.
- 7 (13:33) **Voting Fatigue and the Nikola Jokic Precedent** - Host connects the Ohtani situation to NBA MVP voting fatigue with Nikola Jokic, where voters eventually gave the award to Joel Embiid.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Brian Noe is in for Ben Maller and talks about Shohei Ohtani being the real NL MVP despite all of the hype surrounding Cubs OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, how the NCAA offseason has been ruined with the drama surrounding the temporary restraining order, and more!
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