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Could Shohei Ohtani do as much for baseball globally as Michael Jordan did for basketball in the 1990s? It's not only possible, it's already happening -- at least according to Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin.

Rubin makes that claim as the guest on Tuesday's Season 2 premiere of the 6-1-1 Podcast, hosted by former Phillies teammates Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard.

"When I see the numbers he's doing, what he's doing for the business," Rubin says, "I mean, he is truly a unicorn. He is one of a kind."

For just one bit of evidence of Ohtani's worldwide popularity, his Nike jersey has sold more than any other in MLB since 2023 on the Fanatics network of sites, according to sales numbers released March 31.

It's easy to understand the surge.

Those sales come on the heels of a four-season stretch from 2021-24 in which Ohtani averaged 45 homers and 105 RBIs and won three unanimous MVP Awards (‘21, ‘23, ‘24) with the Angels and the Dodgers, the first two awards coming as a dominant two-way player with his bat and his pitching arm.

Then last season, when he didn't pitch while recovering from right elbow surgery, he became the first player in MLB history to hit at least 50 homers and steal at least 50 bases in a season. He also became the first player to reach 400 or more total bases in a season since 2001.

It's a run of greatness that the sports world has seldom seen.

"We work with 5,000 athletes individually at Fanatics," Rubin says on the podcast. "Just about every sport, every team globally. He's one of a kind."