As he approached history, Shohei Ohtani broke the façade. As much as he had been asked about the possibility, he fought against letting it seep through.
“I’m trying to be less cognizant of it,” the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar said this month through interpreter Will Ireton.
By then, it was a matter of when, not if, Ohtani would accomplish what no other player has ever done: hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, a masterclass in power and speed. Faced with a season away from pitching after his second major elbow ligament reconstruction, Ohtani found a different way to strike awe.
This milestone moment came into view months ago, as the two-time MVP powered toward his most dominant all-around offensive season. These are the steps along the way.
51/51 FOR SHOHEI OHTANI. pic.twitter.com/VoJA2PMFnB
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 19, 2024
Paving the path on the ground
His power was well-known, as Ohtani was one of just a handful of active players to put together multiple 40-homer campaigns. Ohtani’s legs were a throwaway line, drawing multiple comments from managers in Anaheim about how fast he was despite his large frame. Ohtani shied away from the running game, explaining during his rookie campaign: “I still lack the skill part of stealing a base.” He stole 10 bases in 14 tries that season.
Given the opportunity to just hit this season, without pitching duties to focus on, Ohtani channeled his energy in a new direction. Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged early that Ohtani would run more.
That approach involved tweaks to Ohtani’s routine, including running with a portable resistance device attached around his hips — at least, until he broke it. His once-slim frame has packed on muscle without sacrificing quickness, and his power generated enough force to snap the contraption.
“Seeing him in ’18 to ’24, the physical body is way stronger now, more filled out,” third-base coach Dino Ebel said early in the season. “I asked him the other day, are you faster now? He said he feels like he’s faster now.”
The first swings
Off of: J.P. Feyereisen
Date: Feb. 19
It didn’t count, but Ohtani’s first home run of 2024 came in front of an audience of hundreds, not thousands, at spring training. A black sleeve adorned Ohtani’s twice surgically repaired right elbow as a horde of Dodgers personnel looked on at his first live at-bats since undergoing surgery in September. They muttered among themselves, unsure if he would actually swing that day or simply track pitches. It took little time for Ohtani to answer — his third swing drove a J.P. Feyereisen fastball well over the center-field wall on a back field at Camelback Ranch. After Feyereisen addressed a crowd of reporters, fellow reliever Evan Phillips told him he should retrieve the ball for an autograph. So began Ohtani’s new reality.
The first blast
Home run: No. 1
Off of: Tyler Rogers (Giants)
Date: April 3
The one that started it all. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
His first regular-season home run came amid turmoil. A brewing scandal involving Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and self-described manager, Ippei Mizuhara, broke in the hours after Opening Day and across the Pacific Ocean in Seoul, South Korea. Mizuhara would wind up pleading guilty to stealing at least $17 million from Ohtani’s bank accounts to pay off his gambling debts as Ohtani sought to adapt in a year full of change. It would take until the end of the Dodgers’ first homestand for Ohtani to connect, driving an elevated Tyler Rogers fastball into the right-field pavilion.
Passing an idol
Home run: No. 4
Off of: Michael King (Padres)
Date: April 12
“I’m sure this is utterly worthless,” Hideki Matsui told a film crew last year when they asked him to sign a baseball for Ohtani. Even a man nicknamed “Godzilla” could not fathom why Ohtani would want a baseball from him. Matsui, in many ways, helped pave the road Hideo Nomo and Ichiro Suzuki had laid before him as trailblazing Japanese-born players (and position players, in Suzuki’s case) to thrive in Major League Baseball. Like Ohtani, Matsui was left-handed. He held the record for the most home runs in a career for a Japanese-born player, with 175.
With this Ohtani drive to left field, he passed his idol.
“It’s an honor to be on the same stage as him,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton.
Silencing the boos
Home run: No. 7
Off of: Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays)
Date: April 26
No one was as surprised as Ohtani to hear of reports circulating last December that he was en route to Toronto. The Blue Jays had courted Ohtani and matched a record-setting 10-year, $700 million offer (including $680 million in deferrals), but Ohtani remained in Southern California.
Boos rained nonetheless as Ohtani strode to the plate for his first at-bat at Rogers Centre in April. Ohtani answered on the third pitch.
Chris Bassitt hung a breaking ball. Ohtani punished it into the visiting bullpen. When the boos roared again, his teammates playfully joined in the visiting dugout.
“He got a big kick out of that,” Roberts said.
Cars IV: A gift for the manager
Home run: No. 8
Off of: Bryce Elder (Braves)
Date: May 4
As the madness surrounding his free agency lingered, Joe Kelly’s wife Ashley made a preemptive proposal: If Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, she’d encourage her husband to give up his No. 17 … in exchange for a Porsche, the car company the two-way star is a spokesman for. Ohtani delivered.
That was front of mind as Ohtani approached “history” after his first month in Los Angeles. For as extensive as the franchise’s track record was with Japanese-born pitchers, the all-time franchise leader for home runs from a Japanese-born player was none other than Roberts, who slugged seven home runs over parts of three seasons.
This home run led to Ohtani’s best prank of the year. (John Cordes / Associated Press)
“I need a new car,” Roberts quipped after Ohtani hit his seventh homer of the year. And when Roberts went to his office one day in May, he found one: a mauve toy model Porsche Taycan.
Then, Ohtani hit another homer to overtake Roberts.
“He said he wanted a car,” Ohtani said that night. “I’m glad he’s happy. He got a car.”
What would it take for a real car?
“If we win the World Series, I’ll think about it,” Ohtani said through Ireton.
Hello, again
Home runs: Nos. 22 and 23
Off of: Matt Moore and Zach Plesac (Angels)
Dates: June 20-21
It may be irrelevant to ask whether Ohtani would have re-signed with the Angels this past winter because they didn’t bother matching the offer to their two-way superstar in part due to owner Arte Moreno’s hesitations about the heavy deferrals involved.
Ohtani has routinely spoken highly of his time with the Angels nonetheless. He keeps up with how several of his former teammates have done this year. And in his first time facing his old team, he showed them a familiar sight.
When Matt Moore left a fastball over the plate in the opener of June’s two-game set, Ohtani pummeled it out to center. And when Zach Plesac’s slider spun right into Ohtani’s bat the next night, it traveled a projected 455 feet.
Heads up, No. 30 coming
Home run: No. 30
Off of: Kutter Crawford (Red Sox)
Date: July 21
“Good gracious,” Clayton Kershaw said on a national broadcast after Ohtani’s 30th home run of the season finally landed. “I don’t think I’ve seen a ball go that far before.”
“That’s just where people don’t go,” Roberts said.
“It sounded like a shotgun off his bat,” Gavin Lux said.
A few more feet and Ohtani would’ve become the first left-handed hitter since Willie Stargell to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium.
“I think I’m gonna have a lot more opportunities to do so,” Ohtani said. “So definitely looking forward to one of those.”
As it stood, the 473-foot blast that ducked just under the panel roofs atop the pavilions was the farthest ball hit at the ballpark since Giancarlo Stanton in 2015.
30-30
Stolen base Nos,: 28, 29, 30
Off of: Mitch Spence, Kyle Muller (Athletics)
Date: Aug. 3
For as much as the Dodgers anticipated Ohtani running more while exclusively hitting, it took a while for the pace to pick up.
“There was a feeling-out period a little bit,” said first-base coach Clayton McCullough.
Then came July, when he swiped 12 bags and set a career-best mark while nearly matching the previous three months’ total of 16. Along the way, he passed Gary Sheffield’s all-time mark for most stolen bases in a season by an exclusive designated hitter (22) along the way.
After a quiet start on the base paths, Ohtani turned on the jets in July and August (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Ohtani’s binge in July had nothing on August, as Ohtani stole 15 bases and placed himself firmly within reach of 50 — starting with the night he reached 30. Ohtani singled in his first at-bat off Athletics starter Mitch Spence, then immediately broke for second. The same sequence played out in the ninth against lefty Kyle Muller, bringing him to 29. Except that time, he followed by breaking for third, too, marking the first three-steal game of his career and bringing 40-40 within view.
“I do think 40-40 is something that was on his radar from spring training,” Roberts said that night.
Ohtani would steal three bases in a game again a month later as the Dodgers capped a pivotal series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On the brink
Stolen base: No. 40
Off of: Tyler Alexander (Rays)
Date: Aug. 23
It took quite the rally for Ohtani to make it to 40 steals before he hit 40 home runs, including stolen bases on three consecutive days and five in six days to close the gap. But with the Dodgers trailing 3-0 at home against the Rays in the middle innings, Ohtani decided to be aggressive after reaching on a single.
Sliding into second set the stage for the 9-8 comeback victory and the moment that followed later that night. (See next item.)
40-40
Home run: No. 40
Off of: Colin Poche (Rays)
Date: Aug. 23
The timing was preposterous and perfect. The backyard-like scenario — bases loaded, bottom of the ninth — was too good to be true.
Yet there it was, Ohtani swinging at the first pitch and driving a ball to center that carried, carried and carried over Jose Siri’s outstretched glove in center field for a walk-off grand slam — and with it, 40-40.
Only five men in baseball history had achieved such a feat: José Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023). None had done it in fewer games than Ohtani (126).
“I think that he wants to be the greatest player to ever play this game,” Roberts said that night. “And when you start doing things like that, then you’re certainly staking your claim.”
A historic start
Home run: No. 44
Off of: Merrill Kelly (Diamondbacks)
Date: Aug. 31
This was the dream scenario when you build a roster with three MVPs at the top of the lineup. Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman turned it into Merrill Kelly’s nightmare.
First, Ohtani worked a full count before getting a curveball that he drove out to center field, up and over the overhanging porch at Chase Field. Betts smoked the second pitch he saw over the fence in left. Freeman followed by clearing the pool in right-center field.
Never in the 141-year history of the franchise had the team started a game with three consecutive homers.
“After you see something really special happen, those three homers kind of put you on top of the world,” Miguel Rojas said.
Ohtani’s stolen base total this season surpassed Dave Robert’s record (49) for most by a Japanese-born player. (Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
Swiping 50
Stolen bases No.: 50, 51
Off of: Edward Cabrera (Marlins)
Date: Sept. 19
Ohtani’s milestone afternoon in Miami started with a near-miss. With one hearty cut, Ohtani laced a ball off Edward Cabrera that rocketed toward and off the top of the center-field wall at loanDepot Park. What could have been home run No. 49 instead set the stage for a round number on the bases.
With one out, Ohtani and Freeman each broke on a double steal. When Ohtani slid until Connor Norby’s tag at third base, he motioned a thumbs up toward the dugout. Half of his 50-50 feat was complete, with a noteworthy milestone of its own: Ohtani passed his manager, Roberts, for the second-most stolen bases in a single season by a Japanese-born player (Ichiro Suzuki holds the record, with 56 in 2001).
He stole his 51st base an inning later, bringing him to within one of doubling his previous career-high of 26.
50-50
Home runs: No: 49, 50, 51
Off of: George Soriano, Mike Baumann, Vidal Brujan (Marlins)
Date: Sept. 19
The day Ohtani made history might have been even better if not for a tag from Norby at third base. A second-career cycle on the best offensive performance of his big-league career might have been overkill, given the dramatics that accompanied the rest of his afternoon.
In his first at-bat, Ohtani crushed a double. Next, he lined an RBI single. In his third, he found a gap, driving home a pair as he raced to try to get to third before getting thrown out trying for the triple.
That was all but forgotten by the time Ohtani brought himself close to history. He drove a Soriano breaking ball into the upper deck in right-field for homer No. 49, matching Shawn Green’s single-season franchise record for home runs, set in 2001.
That Ohtani even got a shot at No. 50 on the same day came down to Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who opted not to intentionally walk Ohtani with first base open in the seventh inning as the loanDepot Park crowd stirred to a craze and officials swapped out the baseballs for pre-authenticated ones.
Mike Baumann got to two strikes before leaving a breaking ball over the plate. Ohtani didn’t miss it, driving it into the Recess Sports Lounge in left field and sealing it with a roar into the Dodgers’ dugout.
History accomplished, before Ohtani capped off his first-ever:
- Six-hit game
- Three-homer game
- 10-RBI game
He did so with a hellacious cut that blasted a ball into the upper deck against Marlins position player Vidal Brujan.
(Photo of Shohei Ohtani: Associated Press)
