Shohei Ohtani continues as in hitting his 55th HR (home run) for his career best regular season total. It also set a Dodger franchise record - (All Pro Reels - Photo)

# 2 on our JULY NR TOP 10 is: FINDING A WNBA HAPPY PLACE - (John Mac - photo) July NR TOP 10

Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics ALL TIME NBA 1st TEAM - BREAKING IT DOWN

Lionel Messi breathes new life in America's MLS by signing with Miami - (Photo - ESPN Screen Shot) LIONEL MESSI THINKS PINK

SPORTS NOTES - SHOHEI OHTANI'S BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

The Indiana Fever are by far the WNBA league's top attendance draw on the road - The Golden State Valkyries lead the league in home attendance - The Connecticut Sun are having a nightmare season - Is the Unrivaled League leverage for WNBA players wanting a bigger piece of the WNBA pie? - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Sunday September 28, 2025

REJECTION to PROGRESSION = Making a Silk Purse out of a Sows Ear

The legend of Shohei Ohtani continues as in hitting his 55th HR (home run) FOR his career best total for a season. His 54 HR's last season and his first with the Dodgers was at that time, his career best.

His 55 home runs were second best in the final regular season National League stats and third best overall in both leagues.

The now 31-year-old two-way player can be thankful his former team the Los Angeles Angels disrespected him by failing to pay him what he was worth therefore he became a free agent and eventually a member of the Dodgers.

Apparently, the Angels didn't want to take a chance on damaged goods since Ohtani suffered a severe pitching arm injury. They failed to assess the value of a supreme two-way player.

Talk about having been stepped on but resulting in taking a giant step up was the result for the man from Japan after he received a 10-year deal for $700 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers. His competitive attitude topples ego resulting in him agreeing to receiving only $2 million a year since he feels that's plenty to live on while the rest will be paid later. There is no bling in this thing (deal).

Remarkably, Ohtani is so focused he has maintained his on field production after being dealt a severe negative blow last season. His interpreter and friend stole millions of dollars from him to pay off gambling debts. Ohtani never checked his account thus his friend took advantage.

The birth of his first child is a blessing that keeps him focused on what is worthy and what is not. He is so zoned in that going forward is more important than dwelling in the negative.

The Dodgers organization is being satisfied by their investment and faith in Ohtani. The big payoff is when he is able to return to the pitching mound as a full-time starter but not this season. A season of continued healing in his pitching arm, Dodger manager Dave Roberts feels, is the best way to go.

Roberts is doing the right thing by letting Ohtani return to the mound slowly and build up his strength and confidence at a measured pace. In the second half of this season Ohtani started off pitching only the first inning. As his control and confidence improved he began to increase pitching more, at an inning at a time.

He built up his production when recently he pitched five innings with good control while holding the opposition to no hits or walks and five strike outs in a 100-pitch count. He was in line to be the winning pitcher until the teams lead was lost when bullpen relief failed.

The team's bullpen has had injury problems all season. Roberts is thinking that Ohtani would be best served as a relief role possibly for the playoffs, particularly in a 3-game series.

Ohtani is continuing to improve physically and building confidence in his pitching arm. The man from Japan, who is believed to be the second coming of Babe Ruth is on the right track with the right stuff.

MORE MESSI MAGIC!

We said it before and we'll say it again Lionel Messi still has that Messi Magic. He was signed to the Miami FC squad to build the team. He has done that and continues to do so by having the skill to put up stats.

Messi has scored 25 goals in the MLS in 24 games. His goals against New York FC helped lift the team to a playoff spot. Having his former Argentine International teammate Javier Mascherano as his manager is an interesting twist to the team's chemistry.

NBA GAME CHANGE SUGGESTIONS:

Make a rule where a team can only take 30 three-point shots a game. This will create more strategy. A shot clock can be doubled in two sections where one side is about 3-point shots taken and the other being the 24 second clock.