On September 19th, Shohei Ohtani achieved an unprecedented 50-50 season with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season. He then led his team to a 51-51 victory in the same game, helping the team qualify for the playoffs for the first time in his career.
But his history-making this season didn’t end there.
On Friday, Ohtani hit an RBI single in the second inning against the Colorado Rockies and stole his 57th base of the season, advancing to a record of 53 wins and 57 losses, breaking Ichiro Suzuki’s record for most stolen bases by a Japanese player in a season. -Born player.
The single gave Ohtani 11 of his last 12 RBIs with runners in scoring position, which seems impossible.
With the series victory over the San Diego Padres clinching the NL West and a wild card bye, the Dodgers can ease into the final series of the season. But considering he plays in the offensively friendly area of Coors Field, it’s hard to blame Ohtani for doing everything he can to add an exclamation point to one of the greatest seasons of all time.
Will Shohei Otani win the Triple Crown?
In addition to a 50-50 season, Ohtani also has a chance to win the Triple Crown.
He has already won the National League home run title with 53 home runs. The next closest batter is Marcell Ozuna with 39 RBIs. With 127 RBIs, 16 more than Willie Adames, he is almost within reach of the RBI title.
As a result, Ohtani is much closer to first place in batting average than he was a week ago. Since September 18th, he has hit .287, far behind the .287 batting average of first-place finisher Luis Arraez. Ohtani then somehow reached another level, going 20-for-29, five doubles, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 12 RBIs, and seven stolen bases over the next seven games.
Ohtani’s batting average remained at .305 entering the Colorado series, with only Arraez (.312) and Ozuna (.310) above him. With three games at Coors Field, anything seems possible.
Otani successfully reached 50-50.
Not only did Ohtani go 50-50 on September 19th, he smashed through the walls of the upstart club like the Kool-Aid Man with one of the best offensive games in MLB history. His total records are 6 hits in 6 at-bats, 3 home runs, 2 stolen bases, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, and 10 RBIs.
This was the first game in MLB history to hit three home runs, steal two bases, and record 10 RBIs for the 16th time. If he had a better performance in one game, he had four home runs.
The final piece of the 50-50 puzzle came from relief pitcher Mike Bauman in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins.
Ohtani reached his half-century record with a stolen base early in the first inning, taking the lead with a double, stealing his third, and adding his 51st stolen base in the second inning after his RBI. His only outs came in his next three at-bats, when he came close to hitting a home run and was struck out trying to convert a double into a triple.
If the ball had traveled more, it would have been a four-homer game. If Ohtani had been a little faster, it would have been a cycle.
Ohtani’s next three at-bats were all home runs, with the exclamation point coming in the ninth inning against position player pitcher Vidal Burjan.
Shohei Otani’s history making is more than 50/50
In addition to building a 50-50 club, Ohtani did more than enough to make his first season with the Dodgers a memorable one.
Ohtani is venturing deep into uncharted territory when it comes to hitting certain numbers in home runs and stolen bases. In August, he became the sixth player to reach 40 wins and 40 losses, joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, and Ronald Acuña Jr., doing so in record time. . The earliest of these players to reach both standards was Soriano on September 16, 2006.
Ohtani’s 40th home run was a special walk-off home run with the bases loaded.
Rodriguez previously held the records in both categories with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases in 1998. Ohtani matched that 42-42 season on Bobblehead Night on Aug. 28 and surpassed it two days later on Aug. 30.
Ohtani’s number of home runs exceeded his career high of 46 in 2021, his first MVP year, and he also broke his previous record for stolen bases (26, also set in 2021). He currently leads the National League in home runs and ranks second only to Elie Delacruz in stolen bases.
The September 19th game was Ohtani’s 13th game of the season in which he hit at least one home run and stole one base, tying him with Rickey Henderson in 1986 for the most in MLB history, the paper reported. The Athletic’s Fabian Aldaya. The next day, Ohtani hit the 52nd home run and the 52nd stolen base, taking over this record.
Ohtani’s 50 home runs also broke the Dodgers’ single-season home run record, which was held by Sean Green in 2001 with 49. He reached 400 bases this season on Thursday, becoming the first player since 2001 to reach the milestone.
And of course, Ohtani set records for both contract value ($700 million) and deferred signing bonus ($680 million) when he signed with the Dodgers before this season.
Ohtani has built a career on something unprecedented. Even though he is unable to pitch due to UCL surgery at the end of 2023, he continues to do things that have never been done before in MLB.
