Shohei Ohtani First 50/50 Player in Major League History

MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani remained stoic as he rounded the bases in the ninth inning Thursday after belting another towering home run that only added to what was already one of the most memorable performances in baseball history. But he burst into tears moments later as he made his way through the customary parade of high-fives in the dugout. He smiled shyly, gritted his teeth, slumped his shoulders rhythmically, as if to express surprise — even embarrassment — at his relentless dominance.

The home run, by a position player inserted into a game that had spiraled out of control, was his third of the night and 51st of the season. It drove in his 10th run, a record for the Los Angeles Dodgers. And it provided an emphatic finish to a game in which Ohtani became the first 50/50 player in baseball history and secured his first trip to the Major League Baseball postseason.

Twenty-seven days ago, Ohtani cracked the 40/40 club with a walk-off grand slam, setting a new benchmark as he moved toward potentially becoming the first full-time designated hitter to win an MVP with a six-hit, three-homer, two-steal performance amid the Dodgers’ 20-4 win over the Miami Marlins. A Dodgers team that has spent an entire summer praising Ohtani’s accomplishments is running out of ways to explain them.

“I almost cried, honestly,” said veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas. “It was very emotional, because of everything that goes on behind the scenes and what we get to experience every day. It’s a really cool moment. We all know what he’s capable of, but for him to accomplish that — it’s really amazing.”

Ohtani began the Dodgers’ seven-game journey three homers and two stolen bases shy of 50-50, then added just one homer and one steal in the first six. As the final strike of the series arrived at LoanDepot Park on Thursday, it seemed a safe bet that Ohtani’s milestone would wait until the Dodgers came home. But Ohtani led off with a line-drive double off the wall in right-center field, then picked up his 50th steal by sneaking his foot under a tag from Marlins third baseman Connor Norby.

A single in the second inning was followed by stolen base No. 51. Ohtani then added a two-run double in the third — before being thrown out trying to extend it to a triple — and followed with a 438-foot home run into the second deck at LoanDepot Park in the sixth for his 49th home run. When he came to bat again in the seventh, the Dodgers had runners on second and third with two outs. First base was open, and Dodgers players began looking into the opposing dugout to see if the Marlins were going to walk Ohtani intentionally.

“F— that,” a television camera showed Marlins manager Skip Schumaker saying in his dugout. “I have too much respect for the guy to let something like that happen.”

Ohtani took a few hard hits, but then he was back at it. The score was 1-2 when Marlins right-hander Mike Baumann hit his second straight knuckle curve, landing near the center of the strike zone. Ohtani stayed behind and threw the ball into the Recess Sports Lounge, just past the left-center field fence, 391 feet away, for home run No. 50, setting a personal best and a Dodgers record.

“For him to know he’s on the edge of history,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, “and somehow stay within a pitch and hit it on a line to left-center and not try to get too big — you know he’s thinking about hitting a home run, and he hits it 111 mph on a line the other way. It’s just unbelievable.”

The fan who had secured the baseball left the stadium with the ball in his hand, denying Ohtani a well-deserved piece of memorabilia but not the joy it brought him. Ohtani roared as he left the batter’s box and emphatically slapped first base coach Clayton McCullough’s hands as he made the turn. Speaking through an interpreter afterward, he said he was “happy” and “relieved” to finally have reached the 50/50 milestone.

“I think he just felt good, felt sexy and just knew, ‘I’m going to do this today,'” fellow Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts said. “I mean, he could have hit four homers today. I’m speechless.”

A crowd of 15,548 was on hand to witness Ohtani’s historic feat and gave him a standing ovation, after which he jumped out of the dugout for applause. Ohtani thanked the fans, the pitcher who served the home run and then the Marlins dugout — including Schumaker, who didn’t want to get in the way of history.

“I think that’s a bad move — from a baseball perspective, from a karma perspective, from a baseball perspective,” Schumaker said of intentionally letting Ohtani walk. “You go after him and see if you can get him out. I think we went after him out of respect for the game. He hit a home run. That’s part of it. He’s hit 50. He’s the most talented player I’ve ever seen. He’s doing things I’ve never seen in the game before, and if he has a couple more years like that, he might be the best player to ever play the game.”

Shortly after the game, the Dodgers boarded a plane home to prepare for a weekend series against the Colorado Rockies. Their postgame celebration was limited to a champagne toast. Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that they had clinched a playoff spot, but reminded them that the goal was to reclaim the National League West — where they hold a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres — and ultimately win the World Series.

He also praised Ohtani, both for reaching his first postseason — he has played in 866 career regular-season games without reaching the playoffs, the most among active players — and for doing what no player has ever done before. Many in attendance wore black, commemorative 50/50 T-shirts that had been printed in advance.

“If I’m honest,” Ohtani said later, “I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible because every time I batted, there were ball changes.”

Ohtani became the first player to have three home runs and two stolen bases in the same game, according to ESPN Research. He is the second player since at least 1901 to have six hits in a game, including five for extra bases — following another Dodger, Shawn Green, who homered four times in 2002. He is also the first player since RBIs became official in 1920 to have 10 RBIs and five extra-base hits in the same game and just the seventh to collect 17 total bases.

“That has to be the greatest baseball game of all time,” Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux said. “It has to be. It can’t be. It’s ridiculous. I’ve never seen anybody do that, even in the minor leagues, so it’s crazy that he would do that at the highest level.”

It was cemented in the ninth inning, with the Dodgers already leading by 11 runs. The Marlins called up Vidal Brujan, a 26-year-old super-utility player, and watched him lob 70-mph pitches in an attempt to get them to the end of the game. When Ohtani came to bat again, one of his best friends on the team, Teoscar Hernandez, implored him to hit the ball into the right-center-field gap to secure a cycle.

“He told me to hit a triple,” Ohtani explained in English from the locker room next door.

“Instead, he hit it into the upper deck,” Hernandez said of a ball that eventually traveled 440 feet at 114 mph. “That’s why we’re not friends anymore.”