Shohei Ohtani is baseball's first Mr. 50/50 and is major league baseball's new face. The L.A. Dodger player continues to write himself into the MLB record books by becoming the first ballplayer to get 50 stolen bases and 50 home runs in the same season. The Japanese player cemented his place as the new face of "America's pasttime."
"This is a game that has been played for over 200 years," said the Dodgers' Japanese American manager Dave Roberts. "And this is something that has never been done."
“To be honest, I’m the one probably most surprised,” Ohtani said through a translator of his Hall-of-Fame level performance. “I have no idea where this came from, but I’m glad I performed well today.”
In the same game against the Marlins in which he became the only player to achieve the 50 steals and 50 homeruns, Ohtani became the first player with three homers and two steals in a game. He doubled twice, had a career-best six hits and set a Dodgers record by driving in 10 runs.
“The individual performance tonight was remarkable,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “With this game of baseball, it was a win for Major League Baseball. I know people all over the globe were watching this game and we’re excited to see that they got a chance to witness history.”
The 6'-4" Ohtani has been rewriting the record books since he crossed the Pacific to play with the L.A. Angels in 2018 as a pitcher and fielder. Over the off-season, he signed go with the Nagels crosstown rivals, the Dodgersafter signing a record-breaking 10-years contract for $700 million with $680 million deferred.
After his third homerun, breaking the record, Ohtani was mobbed by his teammates when he reached the dugout. The 15,000 Marlin fans continued cheering until the Dodger emerged from the dugout for a curtain call.
The Marlins had a chance to spoil the Dodgers' party. With Ohtani at the plate and having already homered twice, first base was open. Conventional strategy would have been to deliberately walk him. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker chose to pitch to Ohtani instead of intentionally walking him.
“If it was a tight game, one run lead or we’re down one, I probably put him on,” Schumaker said in the post-game press conference. “Down that many runs, that’s a bad move baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball god-wise. You go after him to see if you can get him out. I think out of respect for the game, we were going to go after him. He hit the home run. That’s just part of the deal.”
After his third homerun, breaking the record, Ohtani was mobbed by his teammates when he reached the dugout. The 15,000 Marlin fans continued cheering until the Dodger emerged from the dugout for a curtain call.
The Marlins had a chance to spoil the Dodgers' party. With Ohtani at the plate and having already homered twice, first base was open. Conventional strategy would have been to deliberately walk him. Marlins manager Skip Schumaker chose to pitch to Ohtani instead of intentionally walking him.
“If it was a tight game, one run lead or we’re down one, I probably put him on,” Schumaker said in the post-game press conference. “Down that many runs, that’s a bad move baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball god-wise. You go after him to see if you can get him out. I think out of respect for the game, we were going to go after him. He hit the home run. That’s just part of the deal.”
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