Shohei Ohtani has done just that.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star has an unprecedented 50-50 season, with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season. And he did it with nine games left.
He later hit a 51-51 club in the same game while helping his team earn the first playoff spot of his career.
Ohtani had one of the best offensive games in MLB history: 6-for-6, three homers, two stolen bases, two doubles, four runs and 10 RBI. His 50th homer in Dodgers history broke Shawn Green’s 2001 record.
The final piece of the puzzle came from Marlins reliever Mike Baumann in the seventh inning on Thursday.
Ohtani reached his half-century on the steal early in the first inning, stealing third after opening the game with a double.
The star DH then scored a run, giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead over Miami. RBI’s single reached base and added his 51st steal in the second inning without throwing.
His 49th home run came in the sixth inning, which was huge. Statcast measured it at 111.2 mph off the bat and traveled 438 feet to give the Dodgers a 9-3 lead.
Ohtani, too, was seconds away from posting a cycle as he was thrown out trying to extend a double into a triple in the top of the third.
The exclamation point came in the ninth inning against position-player pitcher Vidal Burujan. Ohtani went on to post the first three-homer, two-stolen-base game in MLB history and the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history.
Thursday will be Ohtani’s 13th game Fabian Ardaya of Athletics.
Shohei Ohtani has already made a lot of history with the Dodgers
In addition to his 51-51 season, Ohtani has done more than enough to make his first season with the Dodgers a memorable one.
Ohtani traveled deep into uncharted territory until he reached certain numbers in home runs and stolen bases. In August, he became just the sixth player to reach 40-40 — joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano and Ronald Acuna Jr. — and he did so in record time. On September 16, 2006, Soriano became the first player of any of those players to reach both milestones.
Ohtani’s 40th homer was great: a walk-off grand slam.
In 1998, Rodriguez hit a career high in both categories with 42 homers and 46 stolen bases. Ohtani matched that 42-42 season on his bobblehead night on Aug. 28 and broke it two days later on Aug. 30.
Ohtani’s current home run tally surpasses his previous career high of 46 in 2021, his first MVP year, and he’s already eclipsed his previous best in steals (26 in 2021). She currently leads the NL in homers and is behind Ellie De La Cruz in steals.
And, of course, Ohtani set the record for both contract size ($700 million) and deferred contract money ($680 million) when he signed with the Dodgers earlier this season.
Ohtani has built his career in an unprecedented way. With UCL surgery at the end of 2023, he’s still doing things MLB has never seen, even in a season where he can’t pitch.
