There was a great pennant race in the AL that year:
Tm
W
L
GB
1
Boston Red Sox
92
70
__
2
Detroit Tigers
91
71
1
3
Minnesota Twins
91
71
1
4
Chicago White Sox
89
73
2
I grew up in Rochester, NY, and back then the Red Wings were the AAA affiliate of the Orioles. I went to a jillion games as a kid and saw most of those great players.
It looks like he's throwing a sweeper now too, which is basically bigger breaking slider.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/05/19/angels-shohei-ohtani-sweeper-pitch-imitate