Though unusually slight in stature for a power hitter, at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), 170 pounds (77 kg),[1] Ott led the National League in home runs a then-record six times.

[3] Despite his power, Ott's hometown minor league team, the New Orleans Pelicans, refused to sign him because of concerns about his size.

He quickly impressed observers with his hitting, especially McGraw, who predicted that he would be "one of the greatest lefthand hitters the National League has ever seen."

He didn't disappoint, hitting .328 in 150 games while setting career highs in home runs (42) and RBI (151)—both records for players who were 20 years old or younger at the start of the season.

[1] By the time Ott reached the age of 25, he had accumulated 1,249 hits, the second highest total for a 25-year-old in MLB history, behind only Ty Cobb (1,433).

Ott was the first NL player to post eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, and only Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Chipper Jones, and Albert Pujols have since joined him.

[3] Alvin Dark said that Ott "lifted his lead foot right off the ground like he was getting ready to kick at a dog".

More recent players who used a similar style include Harold Baines and Kirby Puckett, as well as the Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh.

Also, Ott hit more career home runs in foreign stadiums than any other National League hitter at the time of his retirement.

[8] Those differences are considered the greatest in the history of the game and made it considerably harder for National League hitters to achieve home runs.

He was a master at playing balls that bounced off the fences at the Polo Grounds, allowing him to garner 26 assists in 1929, his first full season as a full-time player.

He would never even approach that figure again, as baserunners quickly realized it was far too risky to run on balls hit in Ott's direction.

Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, contemporaries, and both American League players, were the only batters to surpass Ott's record during this time.

[9] In Game 5, he drove in the series-winning run with two outs in the top of the 10th, driving a pitch into the center-field bleachers.

[12] Ott spent the remaining two-and-a-half years of his contract helping his former teammate Carl Hubbell run the Giants' farm system.

In 1951, Ott succeeded Chuck Dressen as manager of the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, leading the club to an 80–88 record and seventh-place finish.

[15] His number "4" was also retired by the Giants in 1949, and it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of Oracle Park.

[17] He is one of only six National League players to spend a 20+ year career with one team (Cap Anson, Stan Musial, Willie Stargell, Tony Gwynn, and Craig Biggio being the others).

[21][22] In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Ott was one of several deceased players portrayed in farmer Ray Kinsella's Iowa cornfield.

In 2006, Ott was featured on a United States postage stamp, as one of a block of four honoring "Baseball Sluggers" — the others being Mickey Mantle, Hank Greenberg, and Roy Campanella.

Postal Service stated, "Remembered as powerful hitters who wowed fans with awesome and often record-breaking home runs, these four men were also versatile players who helped to lead their teams to victory and set impressive standards for subsequent generations.

Ott's name frequently appears in crossword puzzles, on account of its letter combination and brevity.

[25]Ott is mentioned in Frank D. Gilroy's 1964 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Subject was Roses” near the beginning of Act 1, Scene 2, when John and Timmy have just returned home from a 1946 Giants vs. Cubs game.