One of the many beautiful elements of baseball is that measuring greatness isn't restricted to one stat or even one historic event.

We were reminded of that once again Thursday, when the inimitable Shohei Ohtani found yet another way to leave us awestruck, placing him in a class that had until that point included only one member.

Ohtani became the second player in AL/NL history (since at least 1900) to give up one or fewer hits in a shutout and hit two home runs on the same day.

In Game 1 of the Angels' doubleheader against the Tigers at Comerica Park, Ohtani threw the first complete game of his career, limiting the Tigers to one hit in a 6-0 win. An hour or so later, he launched the first of two homers to help lead his Halos to an 11-4 victory to sweep the twin bill.

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The only other man to yield no more than one hit on the mound while belting two homers at the plate was at a charity golf event in Pennsylvania while Ohtani was accomplishing the feat. But when he got home and turned on his television, the 77-year-old began to marvel anew at the two-way superstar.

"I turned on SportsCenter and I saw on the bottom line there what Ohtani had done," said Rick Wise, who is the only player in AL/NL history to throw a no-hitter and launch a pair of homers in the same game.

"He's the reason they invented the word 'freak.'"

It was 52 years ago that Wise did the unprecedented and, to this day, unmatched. On a sweltering night at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, facing a powerful Reds lineup featuring the likes of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Lee May and George Foster, Wise took the mound for the Phillies while battling the effects of the flu.

"I thought the ball was stopping halfway to the catcher when I was warming up in the bullpen," Wise said. "I was still getting over the flu and in that stadium, below street level, it was more than 110 degrees on the turf."

Wise was perfect through four innings as he began to "sweat out" the virus, getting stronger as the game went on and capitalizing on Cincinnati's aggressive approach at the plate.

In the fifth, Wise came to the plate and smashed a two-run homer over the left-field wall off Reds starter Ross Grimsley, and as that ball sailed over the fence, the feeling began to emerge that something special was in the making.

The only blemish on Wise's pitching line on this night came with one out in the sixth, when he walked Dave Concepcion. From there, he was irrepressible, both on the hill and at the plate.

As he kept retiring Cincinnati's side in order, Wise stepped into the batter's box again in the eighth against reliever Clay Carroll. He went deep over the wall in left again for a solo shot that made it 4-0 Philadelphia.

Hitting homers was nothing new for Wise -- entering this game, he had seven to his name. He'd hit six more after his two solo shots against the Reds.

What wasn't so familiar, however, was a real chance to throw a no-hitter.

"I think once you get through the seventh inning, you really start thinking you have a shot," Wise said.

Following a perfect eighth, Wise struck out Jimmy Stewart and got Ty Cline to ground out to second with Wise covering first base in the ninth. That brought to the plate the only man standing between Wise and the record books.

He just happened to be the player who would collect the most hits in MLB history.

"The last guy you want to see at the plate when you're trying to finish a no-hitter is Pete Rose," Wise said.

Rose hit a line drive toward third, and for a heart-pounding split second, history was teetering on the brink.

But the ball landed in the glove of third baseman John Vukovich, securing an accomplishment that would remain unmatched more than half a century later.

Looking back after all this time, Wise is proud of what he accomplished that night in Cincinnati. But even before Ohtani came very close to equaling it on Thursday, he knew there was one man on the planet who could do it.

"People would say to me that nobody would ever do it again, especially now that we have the designated hitter in both leagues," Wise said. "But I told them there's one guy who could do it someday."

Therein lies the complexity of greatness that baseball so often brings to the fore. What Ohtani did Thursday may not be the equivalent of Wise's day in the summer of 1971. But in a different dimension, it was just as great, if not greater.

"He did that in a doubleheader," Wise said. "He pitched a complete game and then a few minutes later, played in a second game and hit two home runs. His strength is unbelievable."

Still, Wise remains one of one. At least for now.

"Ohtani had a tremendous day," he said before his trademark subtle humor surfaced. "But he did it in two games. I did it in one."