Shohei Ohtani achieved the never-before-seen 50-50 season on September 19, with 50 home runs and 50 steals in the same season. Then he reached the 51-51 club in the same game while helping his team clinch the first playoff berth of his career.
Since that incredible game, Ohtani has continued to build on his legend, hitting two more home runs and stealing four more bases in the Dodgers’ weekend series against the Colorado Rockies. Ohtani’s 53rd homer in the ninth inning on Sunday tied the game before Mookie Betts walked it off for a 6-5 win.
The Dodgers begin their final regular-season home series on Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres, who trail L.A. by three games in the NL West. With six games left before the playoffs, how will Ohtani put an exclamation point on his 2024 season?
Reaching 50-50 as only Ohtani can
Ohtani accomplished his 50-50 feat with 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 also broke Shawn Green’s 2001 record for the most in Dodgers history.
The final piece of the puzzle came in the seventh inning of the Sept. 19 game against the Miami Marlins, off reliever Mike Baumann.
Ohtani reached the half-century mark in steals early in the first inning, stealing third after opening the game with a double.
The star DH later scored a run, giving Los Angeles an early 1-0 lead over Miami. He added his 51st steal in the second inning after reaching base on an RBI single and taking second without a throw.
His 49th home run came in the sixth inning, and it was a big one. Statcast measured it as 111.2 mph off the bat and traveling 438 feet to give the Dodgers a 9-3 lead.
Given that Ohtani was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the top of the third, he was also seconds from posting a cycle.
The exclamation point arrived in the ninth inning against position-player pitcher Vidal Brujan. Ohtani went yard to post the first three-homer, two-stolen-base game in MLB history and the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history.
Thursday was also Ohtani’s 13th game of the season with at least one homer and one steal, which ties him with Rickey Henderson in 1986 for the most in MLB history, according to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
Shohei Ohtani already made plenty of history with Dodgers
In addition to creating the 50-50 club, Ohtani has done more than enough to make his first season with the Dodgers worth remembering.
As far as reaching certain numbers in home runs and stolen bases goes, Ohtani has journeyed deep into uncharted territory. In August, he became the sixth player to ever reach 40-40 — joining Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodríguez, Alfonso Soriano and Ronald Acuña Jr. — and he did so in record time. The earliest any of those players had reached both thresholds was Soriano on Sept. 16, 2006.
And Ohtani’s 40th homer was a special one: a walk-off grand slam.
Rodriguez previously held the record for most in both categories, with 42 homers and 46 stolen bases in 1998. Ohtani matched that 42-42 season on his bobblehead night on Aug. 28 and surpassed it two days later on Aug. 30.
Ohtani’s current home run count surpasses his previous career high of 46 set in 2021, his first MVP year, and he has already shattered his previous best in steals (26, also in 2021). He currently leads the NL in homers and ranks behind only Elly De La Cruz in steals.
And, of course, Ohtani set records for both size of contract ($700 million) and deferred contract money ($680 million) when he signed with the Dodgers before this season.
Ohtani has built his career on being unprecedented. Even in a season in which he isn’t able to pitch, having undergone UCL surgery at the end of 2023, he is still doing things MLB has never seen.
