NPR’s Scott Simon and sportswriter Howard Bryant discuss sports.

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

My gosh. What a night for Shohei Ohtani, as the Dodgers are on their way to the World Series, while Seattle grand slams the Blue Jays. And how does this all affect a possible labor stoppage? We’re going to bring in sports writer Howard Bryant. Howard, thanks for being with us.

HOWARD BRYANT: good morning, Scott.

SIMON: Last night was a night for history.

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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: One and two, the count.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh.

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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: Ohtani. Did he? Ohtani. Ohtani has done it again. His third home run.

SIMON: Not only three home runs, Howard. He was the winning pitcher – 10 strikeouts. Dodgers won 4-0, swept the Milwaukee Brewers. How do we begin to capture what Ohtani accomplished?

BRYANT: Well,I think the best way is just to watch. We like to use a lot of big words in america,don’t we? But we’ve never seen anything like this.You have to go back to Babe Ruth for a comparison, and that shows you how special this is. He’s a phenomenal talent and should be the face of baseball.And to do what he did – he wasn’t even hitting well recently,but that’s what great players do. they perform when it matters. No runs, two hits, 10 strikeouts, three home runs.As players say, it’s like a video game. He’s incredible.

SIMON: Yeah. I don’t think there’s ever been a player close to him in baseball history.

BRYANT: Well, when you’re a kid, you specialize quickly. They tell you not to pitch if you’re a good hitter, and not to hit if you’re a good pitcher…

SIMON: yeah.

BRYANT: …