The Legend of Otani

Otani had 3.4 million followers more than half of them in Japan as he pitched his way to 20 wins and 55 homers for the Dodgers who felt that their 400 million dollar eight-year deal with the 34-year-old Otani was a bargain. In 1978 Dave Parker of the Pirates dove headfirst into Metzcatcher John Stearns and fractured his left cheekbone insisted on continuing to play but couldn't see some pitches so he went back to wearing a conventional batting helmet. When he got on base he switched to a batting helmet with a football face mask attached that he continued to wear for the rest of that season and into the next.