Next-Gen Entertainment & Sports Platform Growth Strategist / Innovator / Alliance Builder
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SHOHEI OHTANI He's done it. Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers' $700 million man, became the first player in MLB history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. And he did it in the most Ohtani way possible, with perhaps the greatest single-game offensive performance of all time, Jeff writes. By the numbers: He entered Thursday's game against the Marlins — a 20-4 Dodgers rout — with 48 home runs and 49 stolen bases. He then proceeded to go 6-for-6 with 3 home runs, 2 doubles, 2 steals, 10 RBI and 4 runs scored. It was the first five-hit game of his career (much less six), and he's just the 16th player in MLB history with 10 RBI in a game. In fact, he's the only player to have — over the course of their entire career — a game with 10+ RBI, a game with 6+ hits, a game with 5+ extra-base hits, a game with 3+ home runs and a game with 2+ steals, and he did it all in a single game. To inaugurate the 50-50 club. What a season: The soon-to-be three-time MVP, who in case you've forgotten is rehabbing from elbow surgery, is batting .294/.376/.629 with 51 HR, 51 SB, 120 RBI and 123 R. And by the way, he's only been caught stealing four times. His 50th steal. The big picture: Thursday was an all-time game at the end of an all-time season from a player who might just go down as the greatest of all-time. And while I've run out of words to describe him, here's Yahoo Sports' Jordan Shusterman on Ohtani, who has proved yet again that he's capable of the impossible. This season wasn't supposed to be about Shohei Ohtani's stats. After three years of increasingly mind-blowing on-field achievements from the two-way player, Ohtani's offseason jump from the Angels to the Dodgers introduced a wealth of intriguing new storylines involving the once-in-a-lifetime talent. But with elbow surgery at the end of last season restricting Ohtani to DH duties in 2024, our collective instinct was to put our hopes for more never-before-seen feats on hold for a year while he rehabbed his way back to two-way status. In the meantime, there was no shortage of captivating subplots to monitor: A $700 million free-agent contract with unprecedented deferrals. Ohtani's fit atop a lineup with two other MVPs in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. How he would handle his DH responsibilities while simultaneously rehabbing the second elbow surgery of his career. A gambling scandal involving his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, that rocked the baseball world just before Opening Day. The chance to play in October after six consecutive losing seasons in Anaheim. Teaming up with another Japanese superstar in Yoshinobu Yamamoto. His wife! His dog! And on and on. With so much else surrounding Ohtani's debut season in Dodger blue, his raw statistical output — temporarily limited to that of just a hitter (and one who doesn't play defense) — seemed likely to be secondary.
