Ohtani has history in his sights

After becoming baseball's fastest to 40-40, he has a shot to be the first member of 50-50 club

- JACK HARRIS AND MIKE DIGIOVANNA

Shohei Ohtani hits a walk-off grand slam on Friday to become the first player in Dodgers history - and the sixth in all of MLB - with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.

Back in the spring, during Shohei Ohtani’s early days with his new club, people around the Los Angeles Dodgers camp couldn’t help but dream of what the two-way star’s debut season with the team could look like.

Coming off his second MVP award and a record $700-million (U.S.) signing with the Dodgers in the off-season, Ohtani was already viewed as the best player in baseball. And after undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of last year, he entered 2024 solely focused on being a designated hitter.

José Canseco was MLB’s first 40-40 player in 1988 (42 HR, 40 SB).

At the time, the hope was that Ohtani’s offence would be unburdened by his elbow surgery and rehab as a pitcher, that his production could be enhanced by a season of only hitting, That he could somehow elevate his game further and pursue a whole new set of historic targets.

“I’m sure he’s going to miss not being able to go out there every fifth or sixth day to pitch,” manager Dave Roberts said in February. “But I just really feel good about the way he is right now, and how he looks.”

Six months later, on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, Ohtani turned even the loftiest of those expectations into reality, becoming just the sixth player in MLB history to have a 40-home run, 40-stolen base season, and the first to eclipse both thresholds before the start of September.