WBSC Premier12 star Shohei Ohtani opens new chapter in baseball history
Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.
"This is something I will cherish for a long time," said Ohtani through an interpreter. "To be honest, I'm the most surprised. I have no idea where this came from, but I'm glad I performed well."
He added: "Coming to a new team, my goal was always to be in the playoffs, and I'm glad I contributed to that."
MLB Network asked Ohtani if this day would replace the World Baseball Classic title as the best day in his baseball life.
"I'm ecstatic about both accomplishments," he replied. "The biggest thing for me is to be able to play in the post season finally."
On Thursday, September 19, Ohtani went 6-for-6 with 10 RBIs and scored in a 20-4 Los Angeles Dodgers win against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park in Miami.
He hit his 49th homer in the sixth against reliever George Soriano with a runner on. His second dinger of the night, number 50 in the season, was also a two-run homer. He got it off Mike Baumann in the seventh. He hit number 51, a three-run shot, in the ninth against Vidal Brujan.
When the media asked Skip Schumacher, the Marlins manager, why he didn't walk Ohtani, he replied: "That's a bad move, baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-gods-wise."
With the win, the Dodgers clinched a playoff spot. Manager Dave Rogers honoured Ohtani's accomplishment in his locker-room speech.
Before Ohtani’s 50-50 season, the most stolen bases in a 50-homer season had been 24, by Willie Mays in 1955 and Alex Rodriguez in 2007.
"Some people call Ohtani a unicorn." wrote Anthony Castrovince on MLB.com. "But Ohtani is better than unicorns because he actually exists."
Former superstar José Canseco, who was first in history to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 1988, also honoured Ohtani.
Ohtani was born in 1994 in Mizusawa (now part of Ōshū), in the Iwate Prefecture. His father, Toru, played baseball in the semi-pro Industrial Leagues. His mother, Kayoko, was a badminton player.
Shohei played as a teenager for the Hanamaki Higashi High School while also competing in swimming. His coach, Hiroshi Sasaki, believed in firm discipline and players were allowed home only six days a year.
Ohtani's fastball topped 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour during the 2012 Summer Koshien. The same year, the Hokkaido Nippom-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) drafted him.
Ohtani starred for the Ham Fighters as a pitcher and designated hitter, leading them to a 2016 Japan Series title.
Ohtani made his international baseball debut at the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup 2012. He didn't impress as a pitcher but went 11-for-34 (.324 batting average) as a designated hitter and left fielder.
He dominated the inaugural WBSC Premier12 2015 as a pitcher. He started two games, combining 13 innings. He didn't allow a run and struck out 21.
He moved to the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2018. The 2024 season is his first with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani has started 86 games as a pitcher and posted a 38-19 record and a 3.01 earned run average (ERA).
He appeared in 886 games, had 3,082 at-bats, hitting 222 home runs. His career batting average is .278.
He was the 2021 and 2023 American League MVP and led the American League in home runs in 2023, the first Japanese-born player to accomplish this feat. He has also received three Edgar Martinez Awards (best designated hitter) and two Silver Slugger Awards.
And in a script written out of Hollywood, Ohtani pulled off one of his crowning achievements when pitching against clubmate Mike Trout to win the World Baseball Classic for Japan last year, earning MVP honours along the way after going 1-for-3 and earning the save. He pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing one walk and striking out one.