Shohei Ohtani & 'the greatest day in baseball history'

Today at 12:34 AM

It's hard to imagine a single individual major league game that packed so much into it was the Dodgers superstar on Thursday in Miami. Let's unpack the greatness.

Shohei Ohtani was already having an incredible Thursday at loanDepot Park. He stole two bases, the first of which gave him 50 steals on the season. Hit hit two home runs to get to 50-50 and break the franchise home run record in the process.

The game was already in hand, and the Marlins had position player Vidal Bruján on the mound. Chris Taylor singled with two outs to allow Ohtani to bat for a sixth time. The mood on the SportsNet LA broadcast was understandably giddy, when Ohtani added to his ridiculous day with yet another home run.

"Oh my gosh, SHOHEI OHTANI, THE GREATEST DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY," Joe Davis said on his call of home run number 51. "This is not real life. He is not human," Davis later added with a laugh."

Ohtani's day was ridiculous, stupendous, unfathomable. Let's dig in to what Ohtani did:

• He doubled in the first inning (off the wall in right field, nearly a home run), stole third base (No. 50), and scored in a sacrifice fly
• He singled home Gavin Lux in the second inning, and then stole second base (No. 51)
• Ohtani doubled home Lux and Andy Pages in the third inning, and was thrown out at third base trying for a triple
• Ohtani homered in the sixth inning (No. 49), scoring Pages
• He homered in the seventh (No. 50), again scoring Pages
• Ohtani homered in the ninth (No. 51), scoring Max Muncy and Taylor

Ohtani drove in 10 runs on Thursday, the most in any Dodgers game ever. James Loney (September 28, 2006) and Gil Hodges (a four-homer game on August 31, 1950) had the previous club record with nine-RBI games.

Ohtani had five extra-base hits, tying the major league record. Only 15 people have done it, including three Dodgers — Ohtani, Steve Garvey (three doubles, two home runs on August 28, 1977), and Shawn Green (four home runs, double on May 23, 2002).

Green and Ohtani are the only one of these five-extra-base-hit gamers to have six total hits. Six hits is the Dodgers franchise record, done 10 times.

I'm a big fan of unique box scores, when someone's combination of at-bats, runs, hits, and RBI haven't been done by anyone else. Green's 6 6 6 7 stands alone in MLB history, as is Ohtani's 6 4 6 10.

Back in 2011, I called Green's game "the greatest offensive game in MLB history." But Ohtani's game Thursday might have surpassed him.

For one, none of the other 14 games with five extra-base hits also featured a stolen base, while Ohtani stole two on Thursday.

Ohtani had the first three-homer, two-steal game in MLB history, and only the 20th game with at least two of each. Mookie Betts was the last one with a two-homer, two-steal game, back on August 23, 2020 for the Dodgers.

Ohtani had just the seventh game ever with at least 17 total bases. Three of them are by Dodgers, with Green leading the way with 19 and Hodges with 17. The six others with at least 17 total bases all involved a four-homer game with at least one other hit. None of the other six also stole a base, let alone two.

Back to the 10 RBI for a moment, there were 15 previous games of double-digit RBI before Ohtani, but none of those players stole any bases in their big RBI games. Ohtani stole two.

Or maybe this tweet from OptaSTATS will drive the point home:

I think the combination of everything gives the edge to Ohtani when it comes to figuring out the best individual game ever. Thursday featured his tremendous power and sudden baserunning prowess, doing things together that really haven't been done before.

Ohtani now has 25 home runs and 25 steals on the road in 2024, to go with his 26-26 at Dodger Stadium this season. Nobody else has ever had a 25-25 season at home or away in one season, and Ohtani did both. And there are still nine games left to play.

He has 30 home runs and 35 stolen bases in his last 77 games, too, the only MLB player ever to do so in so few games. A literal 30-30 half season.

Doing all that Ohtani did in his single game on Thursday was amazing in its own right. But to do so in the game that reached 50 steals, reached 50 home runs, and one more of each, plus breaking Green's franchise home run record in the process. Ohtani now has 13 games with at least one home run and one stolen base, matching Rickey Henderson's record set in 1986. All in a game that clinched a playoff berth for the Dodgers, the first postseason of Ohtani's MLB career.

That's an incredible amount of feats packed into a single game. He got a curtain call, in a road game.

"One of a kind player, one of a kind season," Davis said on his call of Ohtani's 50th home run.

One of a kind game, too.