NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
President Donald Trump compared Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to one of the greatest to ever do it, Babe Ruth.
The Dodgers visited the White House on Thursday afternoon during a day off from their East Coast trip, where Trump recognized Ohtani for his notable accomplishments.
“The 2025 Dodgers season was one for the record books in 150 years of Major League Baseball. No player has won more than one unanimous league MVP except an international legend named Shohei Ohtani,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump holds a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey with his name and the number 47 during a ceremony honoring the 2025 World Series champions in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026. (Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
“It’s incredible. It’s incredible. Everyone loves him. Last year, Shohei did what was previously unthinkable. No one thought it was possible. He earned his third straight unanimous league MVP with a franchise-record 55 home runs. And if you’d told me you could be the best pitcher and the best hitter at the same time, you know, Babe Ruth came pretty close to that.”
Throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Ohtani’s incredible career reached new heights, as he hit 99 home runs in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS over that span.
Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery, but he returned to the slump last year and had a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 strikeouts per nine, a figure he also accumulated in 2022, which led the American League.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Shohei Ohtani listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event honoring the 2025 World Series champion Dodgers in the Rose Garden of the White House, Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
ZERO BS. ONLY DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Ohtani, nicknamed by many the “Japanese Babe Ruth,” is the only player in MLB history to have more than 300 plate appearances and more than 40 innings in six different seasons. Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases.
Trump called the Boston Red Sox’s Babe Ruth trade with the New York Yankees the worst trade in sports history.
“Babe was 19 years old. They called it the worst trade in the history of sports. I would say Babe will always say, ‘Take that.’ He was 19 years old and they got a 36-year-old, $100,000 third baseman, so I’d call it pretty bad. They drafted him as a pitcher, but he did something very unusual. He led the league in home runs as a pitcher. You have to do that,” Trump said while pointing to Ohtani.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Miguel Rojas and Shohei Ohtani react as President Donald Trump welcomes the 2025 MLB World Series champions in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 23, 2026, in Washington, DC. The Dodgers defeated the Blue Jays in seven games to win their second straight World Series title and ninth overall. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In 1920, the Red Sox sold Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan to Fenway Park.
Ohtani is in the midst of another brilliant season. As a hitter, he has a .283 batting average with 22 home runs, 60 RBIs and six stolen bases in 94 games.
As a pitcher, he is 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts, but recently missed a start due to a knee issue. Ohtani will look to lead the Dodgers to their third straight World Series title with a strong second half.
