Shohei Ohtani keeps breaking baseball

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Happy Friday. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks for rocking with us today. We appreciate the time.

Shohei Ohtani finally did it. On Thursday night, he became the first member of baseball’s 50-50 club with his 50th home run and his 50th stolen base.

Somehow, though, I might actually be burying the lede here.

Yes, Ohtani created the illustrious 50-50 club. But he did it while possibly having what some folks believe might be the greatest statistical performance ever in a baseball game. No, you’re not reading that incorrectly.

The Dodgers thumped the Marlins 20-4. Ohtani, himself, actually drove in 10 of those runs.

The numbers were unreal. He finished the game 6-for-6 at the plate. He hit three homers, two doubles, a single and had 10 total RBIs. He scored 4 runs himself and also stole two bases.

And the homers were monsters. Exhibit A:

6-FOR-6
THREE HOME RUNS
10 RUNS BATTED IN

SHOHEI OHTANI HAVE MERCY pic.twitter.com/VMJp9OqgjZ

— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2024

There are plenty of impressive singular performances in MLB history, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one as good and efficient as the one Ohtani just had. He’s unreal.

This dude is not supposed to be doing things like this. Baseball has existed for a long time. This is a 19th-century sport we’re talking about, folks. And nobody in the game’s history has ever hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in one season. He’s created the club and still has a bit of wiggle room to go. There aren’t enough games left for him to go 60-60, but the dude is so good you don’t even want to count him out.

At every turn throughout his career, Ohtani has broken baseball’s conventions over and over again. It’s easy to forget that his other job is being a pitcher. He’s in the middle of a rehab season after injuring his elbow, for crying out loud. And this is what he does? It’s unreal.

Baseball’s GOAT discussion is one of the toughest in all of sports. There are many candidates and legitimate reasons why they should all be considered. Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Mike Trout … The list goes on.

I think it’s high time we add another name to that list. It’s still early — he’s only 30 years old — but Ohtani belongs in those conversations. He’s not even through his prime yet and he’s doing things we’ve never seen before and may never see again.

I don’t know where he ends up, but for my money, this is the single greatest talent baseball has ever seen. I’m glad we get to watch him.

Philly Forever

Joel Embiid is locked in with the Philadelphia 76ers through the rest of his prime after reportedly agreeing to a three-year, $193 million extension this morning, according to the latest from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

This extension, stacked on top of Embiid’s current deal gives him a 5-year, $301 million contract with the 76ers in total. That makes it one of the three richest deals in NBA history, per Charania.

It’ll take him to his age 35 season. I guess it’d be reasonable for one to consider this expensive deal mildly concerning for a center with an injury history like Embiid’s. He played only 39 games for Philly last year before returning for the playoffs.

But, hey, man. He’s an MVP. And he probably would’ve been a back-to-back MVP if he’d stayed healthy last season. When you’ve got a talent like that, you do all you can to keep them around.

Good on the 76ers for landing the plane here and shoutout to Embiid, who has to be jumping in swimming pools of money right now.

The WNBA Playoffs are upon us

The WNBA season ended on Thursday night, and the first round of the playoffs will begin this weekend.

The matchups:

• No. 1 New York Liberty vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream
• No. 2 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury
• No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever
• No. 4 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm

The favorites: The New York Liberty has to be considered the favorite for the title this season. Their +9.2 point differential is the best in the WNBA by a wide margin — the next closest team is the Sun at +6.5. This team is on a mission to avenge last year’s finals loss, and this is a great opportunity to do so.

A potential upset: None feel extremely likely at this point, but if I had to pick a team I’d say it’d be the Fever against the Sun. Connecticut is 3-1 against Indiana this season, but three of those games came before the All-Star break, and two were in the first week of the season. This is a different Fever team now, with a 109.6 offensive rating in the last 14 games. I wouldn’t call an upset likely, but if you’re looking for one, this is probably where you’d go.

Photo Friday: Damien Martinez is a literal blur

This photo is a bit older — it’s from the Miami game against Florida A&M. But I stumbled upon this in my weekly photo search and couldn’t stop staring at it.

Damien Martinez looks like he’s breaking the sound barrier here. It’s incredible.

Quick hits: What happened to the 50-50 homer? … Amon-Ra hates the Cowboys … and more

— A fan has Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 home run ball and he’s not giving it back to the league … not yet, anyway. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.

— Amon-Ra St. Brown probably just became so many people’s favorite player by taking a shot at the Cowboys by calling the Saints overrated. Robert Zeglinski has more.

— Kelsey Mitchell and NaLyssa Smith thanked Caitlin Clark for their new-found fame. Meg Hall has more.

— Fans hate the new Wheel of Fortune set. I can’t blame them — it’s weird. Charles Curtis has the details.

— Aaron Rodgers poked fun at Mel Kiper’s bizarre rant about defenses playing good defense.

— Charles Curtis has your College GameDay location for the weekend here.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us this morning. Have a great Friday. Peace.

-Sykes