We Are All (Shitty) Witnesses

East Coast bias is real, in large part because time zones and sleep are real. As a recent example, I think one could credibly argue that people slept on the Denver Nuggets (pun intended after the fact) for most of the NBA season because they play most of their games in the Mountain or Pacific time zones.

Another contemporaneous case in point is the absurdity of the season Shohei Ohtani is having. The Angels' DH/P is making a mockery of decades of received baseball wisdom. After last night's 2-0 loss to the Dodgers, where Ohtani went 7 innings, gave up 5 hits and one run, and struck out 12 to take a hard-luck defeat, here's where he stands amongst major league players:

• 24 HR (first)
• 58 RBI (tied - first)
• 175 total bases (first)
• .616 SLG (first)
• .993 OPS (first)
• .377 OBP (top 20)
• 117 K pitching (3rd)
• 11.8 K/9 (2nd)
• 1.04 WHIP (7th)
• 89 IP (top 20)
• 3.13 ERA (top 20)

And he does shit like this:

Watch on TikTok

That sound!

I offer this post not so much in the way of a solution to the problems posed by a need for sleep, but as a marker. Future historians will at least know that this little corner of the East Coast saw Shohei Ohtani for what he was. A goddamn space alien anime god.