Case could be made that the greatest individual season ever was in 1989, the year Bo Jackson hit 32 home runs and then rushed for nearly 1000 yards in 11 NFL games. Could also argue for many of the years of Deion Sanders career playing excellent centerfield, stealing bases, hitting pretty well, and then playing top corner in the NFL. Point to be made in reference to Bo and Deion is that we were amazed at their ability to excel in 2 major sports, and even though they weren’t MVPs in both sports, they were impactful in both.
I think they provide an interesting comp to Ohtani - shouldn’t be looking for him to be both BEST pitcher and best position player - rather, can he excel at both? From there, what’s the extent of excellence in each. 1989-1990 Bo was on his way to being a force in both sports. Is Ohtani a force as both pitcher and position player/hitter? Sounds like he is. Doesn’t need to be the best in each - credit to the diversity of skills and high level of achievement.
Not being a baseball fan since before Deion played, I’m not certain of his impact as a center fielder - my guess is that he was among the best in the game at center at the same time he was among the best corners. That is amazing.