ID :
688635
Sat, 09/21/2024 - 06:02
Auther :
JIJI
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/688635
The shortlink copeid

Ohtani Achieves Unprecedented 50 Homers, 50 Stolen Bases

Miami, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)--Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday became the first-ever player in Major League Baseball history to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single regular season.

 

In Thursday's game against the Miami Marlins in Miami, the Japanese baseball phenom secured his 50th stolen base of the 2024 season in the first inning and then his 51st stolen base in the second inning.

 

Ohtani, batting first as designated hitter, slammed his 49th, two-run home run of the season in the sixth inning and his 50th, two-run homer in the seventh inning. He then hit his 51st home run, a three-run dinger, in the ninth inning.

 

Ohtani became the second Japanese player in MLB to steal 50 or more bases in a single season, after Ichiro Suzuki, who stole 56 bases in the 2001 season as a Seattle Mariners player and won the American League's stolen base title of the year.

 

In Thursday's game, held at LoanDepot Park, the home field of the Marlins, Ohtani went 6-for-6 with 10 runs batted in, setting his career-high single-game hits and RBIs. His RBIs this season reached 120, the most for a Japanese player outpacing 116 RBIs marked in 2005 by Hideki Matsui, who played for the New York Yankees at the time.

 

Thanks to Ohtani's spectacular performance, the Dodgers crushed the Marlins 20-4, moving into the post-season series for the 12th consecutive year.

 

"I'm happy and feel relieved (to achieve the milestone of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases)," Ohtani told reporters. "At the same time, I feel respect for those who played ahead of me and set records."

 

"I'll never forget it," Ohtani said, asked how he felt about achieving the feat at LoanDepot Park, where Japan's national team, including Ohtani, defeated the United States to win the 2023 World Baseball Classic. "I think (LoanDepot Park) is now one of my favorite ballparks," he added.

 

On the Dodgers moving into the 2024 post-season series, Ohtani said: "It is a stage that I have always dreamed of since I came to the United States. I'm ready to work hard from the beginning again toward post-season games."

 

Ohtani started to play for the Dodgers this year after working for the Los Angeles Angels for six years. Before moving to the United States, he played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional baseball team.

 

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