When you think of Achievements in Baseball, you might think of the Single Season Home Run Record by Aaron Judge, or The Most Stolen Bases by Rickey Henderson. There have been players in the 20/20 club, 30/30 club, and a few in the 40/40 club. But no one has entered the 50/50 club until last night. Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Dodgers made History by being the first player in MLB history to have 50 Home Runs and 50 Stolen Bases in a single season.
Shohei Ohtani is a two-way player out of Japan, and he is one of the best in the world. He made his MLB debut in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels and won AL Rookie of the year. In his time in Anaheim from 2018-2023 he won 2 MVPs, 3 MLB All-Star Appearances, 4 All-MLB First Teams, 2 All-MLB Second Teams, and 2 Silver Slugger Awards. He also led Team Japan to win the 2023 World Baseball Classic over USA and was the cover athlete for MLB the Show 22.
This past Free Agency, all teams wanted Ohtani. Then in December of 2023 it came down to Two teams: The Dodgers and the Blue Jays. Jon Heyman, who made the iconic "Arson Judge" tweet, tweeted out on X that Ohtani was on a flight to Toronto. However, this was not true. Ohtani ended up choosing to sign with the Dodgers after he posted a picture on Instagram showing the Dodgers logo saying that he chose LA. He signed a 10-Year $700 Million Dollar Contract, making it the biggest contract in Baseball history, as well as North American sports history. This shocked baseball fans all around the world. The Dodgers would also make some other big moves in free agency, Signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a talented pitcher out of Japan. They also got another big pitcher on the market, Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ohtani and the Dodgers kicked off the season playing opening day against one of their rivals, the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea. At the time of this article being posted, Ohtani has not Pitched a game for the Dodgers this year, due to injury concerns and having to get Tommy John surgery in 2023. Ohtani was named All-Star for the National League after the first half of the season and was the starting Designated Hitter.
September 19th, 2024. A day baseball history was made. Shohei Ohtani was a heavy favorite to win NL MVP as he was approaching to be the first player to reach the 50/50 club. The Dodgers were on the road facing the Marlins in Miami. Ohtani had the best performance of his career. He hit 3 home runs, stole 2 bases, and had 10 RBI. It was a great performance that no one had seen before. This also gave the Dodgers a 20-4 win over the Marlins and clinched a playoff berth for the 12th straight season. Baseball History was made. There was huge controversy over the ball he hit though, as fans in LoneDepot Park were in a Dogpile fighting to get the ball. Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball could possibly go up to $500k.
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