OHTANI TOPS 50-50: THE SLUG-AND-RUN MASTERY OF THE GREATEST PLAYER EVER
What’s possibly next? Who knows when a masher and a base stealer reach the same historic numbers, as America must watch this supernatural in October when he plays his first postseason in Los Angeles?
He flashed a tip of his tongue, colored pink like yours and mine. Then he giggled and waved and adored humanity while we wonder what possibly comes next with his bat and legs. Next year, he will rev up his arm, if not this postseason. That is when Shohei Ohtani takes over sports and entertainment in America — and Japan and everywhere else they play baseball — and allows us to marvel, unless you are dead.
Anyone who questioned his journey to 50-50 land can find another solar system. No man who slugs with his mammoth power should be able to steal bases with his speed, which only ranks 154th among big-league players. And vice versa. But Ohtani not only reminded us of his unprecedented place in history but did so with an intense, godly, otherworldly swirl. He hit three home runs and stole two bases Thursday in Miami, where his numbers can be sent to Cooperstown years before he arrives.
He had six hits in six at-bats and drove in 10 runs with 17 total bases. He has 51 homers and 51 steals, the first player to reach those numbers in the same season. The crowd in Little Havana, which doesn’t care much about the Marlins or the game, showered him with numerous standing ovations. In Los Angeles, he’ll continue to pack Dodger Stadium as Japanese businessmen visit owner Mark Walter, who is so stunned by their endorsement offers that $700 million already seems a bargain. Those who show up should eat sushi, at various stands, and forget the Dodger Dog. He has changed life in southern California with his joyful magnificence.
“To be honest, I am the one probably most surprised. I have no idea where this came from,” said Ohtani, before downing champagne with teammates. “Just happy, happy. Happy, relieved and very respectful of peers who have played the sport of baseball.”
“I know people all over the globe were watching this game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’re thrilled they had a chance to see history. He is one of one. He couldn’t be a more talented player and he couldn’t be more humble. He accomplished 50-50.”
His first-ever playoff excursion might not last too long, depending on an alarming pitching staff grounded by injuries. But we will peek in at every at-bat and every time he reaches base, giving resonance to baseball, which usually fades in football season. Not yet. Speaking to interpreter Will Ireton — who is not stealing almost $17 million from Ohtani like his predecessor, Ippei Mizuhara — he didn’t have much to say about the thrusts behind his three bombs. We’ll never hear ego from Shohei.
“Ideally, aiming for a home run is not the best way to hit a home run,” he said. “I aim for quality at-bats. I put up quality at-bats.”
And how does he energize the basepaths with lightning when he weighs about 220 pounds? Barry Bonds, pre-steroids, had 42 homers and 40 steals. But 50-50? “In terms of a stolen base, my attitude was to be aggressive, and I was aggressive. This is, I’m sure, what making the playoffs will feel like,” Ohtani said.
This is why he left the Angels, 31.4 miles down Interstate 5, to reach the playoffs after missing six of six times in the American League. Qualifying was a more important chore, in his mind, than making history. “I’m glad the team won. It’s something to get over with as quickly as possible and something we’re going to cherish for a very long time. The balls were being exchanged every time I came to bat,” he said. “My goal always was to be in the playoffs, personally and as a team. My goal is to do well in playoff situations.”
Imagine if he handles pitchers the way he handled Miami manager Skip Schumaker. Rather than walk Ohtani, he said, “F— that. I’ve got too much respect for this guy for that to happen.” Everyone at home saw the goof. “That’s a bad move baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-gods-wise,” said Schumaker later, defending his move. “You go after him and see if you can get him out.” And the Chicago White Sox want to hire him to save the worst team ever?
Ohtani’s teammates are looking at a mashing, racing miracle. “He’s playing a different game,” catcher Will Smith said.
“I think he was just feeling good, feeling sexy and just knew, like, ‘I’m about to do this today,’ ” said Mookie Betts, somehow a secondary star on this team. “I mean, he could have had four homers today. I’m at a loss for words.”
“I almost cried, to be honest with you,” infielder Miguel Rojas said.
“He’s not pitching this year, so I think he is emptying the tank offensively,” Roberts said. “I do think the power, the on-base (percentage), the average — I think he can do that as a pitcher. He’s done something pretty similar like that with his OPS. But as far as the stolen bases go, I’m not sure about that.”
The Dodgers are on pace to win the NL West, despite their frantic injuries, and are coming off successive disasters in division series against Arizona and San Diego. This franchise has won only one championship since 1988, during a 2020 season lost in a pandemic. Will Ohtani make a difference? The organization is being doubted for its inability to keep top pitchers healthy, with Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone joining Clayton Kershaw on the injured list. Jack Flaherty, the winner Thursday, is the top starter. Yoshinobu Yamamoto comes next, but he sat out three months and never has performed in the postseason. Walker Buehler? Who else?
Would the Dodgers be so bold — with Ohtani only a year removed from a second surgery on his right ulnar collateral ligament — to trot him out for relief appearances? Roberts says it is “not a zero percent chance,” which sounds frightening. “Anything is possible,” the manager said. “I’m not going to close the door 100 percent. If I was scripting a movie or writing a book, it would be a no-brainer that he comes out of rehabilitation and throws the last pitch. The problem is, in reality, he hasn’t thrown a leverage pitch in over a year. If he were to come out and it does go awry, it’s not worth potential injury. You just cannot duplicate the stress of that one inning.”
But he won’t dismiss the thought. He isn’t dealing with a human being, it seems. Plus, the pressure remains gigantic to win a championship. “The talent we have, the character we have … it is plenty to win the World Series,” he said.
That’s what Roberts told players in the clubhouse after the 20-4 laugher. “The character and the faith is the ceiling for all of us,” he said. “We’ve go to rely on each other to show the character to win that last game in October.”
Above all is what he conveyed about the best ballplayer we’ve ever seen. “This is a game that has been played over 200 years,” he said. “He has done something that never has been done in this game. Shohei?”
Ohtani nodded. Maybe his dog, Decoy, will get more out of him. Until then, we wait for next month and next year and far beyond.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.