Shohei Ohtani: First MLB Player with 50 Home Runs and 50 Stolen Bases

Shohei Ohtani is making history in Major League Baseball as he approaches a remarkable milestone known as the 50/50 club. This exclusive group includes achievements wherein players have hit 50 home runs in a season or stolen 50 bases, but never both in the same season—until now.

This season, Ohtani, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels, has come extraordinarily close to reaching this unprecedented combination. As of lately, he recorded his 50th and 51st stolen bases, along with his 49th and 50th home runs during a game against the Miami Marlins, putting him on track to potentially become the first player to accomplish the feat this season.

Historical data from Sport’s Reference’s StatHead Baseball allows for a compelling comparison between Ohtani and some of baseball’s legendary players. When reaching the 50 home-run mark, Ohtani became part of a small and illustrious group, marking the 50th occurrence of a player achieving this milestone in MLB history.

Sean Forman, president of Sports Reference, reminisced about the significance of the 50/50 achievement: “It would be an incredible accomplishment. No one has ever done it before in a single season, and only two players, Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson, have managed to both hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in any season of their careers.”

As Ohtani aims for this remarkable milestone, he competes closely with Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, who stole 73 bases and hit 41 home runs last season. While Ohtani may not surpass Acuña’s record of stolen bases, he has already set a new benchmark by hitting more home runs than Acuña, thus becoming the first player in the 45/45 club—an impressive feat in itself.

The modern era’s single-season record for stolen bases is held by Ricky Henderson, who accomplished an astounding 130 steals while hitting 10 home runs in 1982. Henderson’s name appears a remarkable 13 times on the list of players who have stolen 50 or more bases in a single season.

After reaching the 50-home run mark, Ohtani finds himself leading the list of 50 home run club members ranked by their stolen base totals. The last player to achieve over 50 home runs and collect a significant number of stolen bases was Alex Rodriguez in 2007 when he hit 54 home runs and stole 24 bases. Before that, we must look back over 50 years to find Willie Mays, who hit 51 home runs and stole 24 bases in a single season.

As the regular season approaches its conclusion, Ohtani has only ten games left. This limited timeframe increases the excitement surrounding his pursuit of the historic 50/50 achievement, which baseball fans eagerly anticipate.

Although Ohtani is enjoying a record-breaking season, Forman believes that Acuña’s performance in 2023 deserves notable recognition. According to Baseball Reference’s Power-Speed leaders, which ranks players based on their combined achievements in home runs and stolen bases, Acuña currently leads due to his superior number of stolen bases.

“As of now, Acuña is ahead of Ohtani thanks to his immense number of steals. I would likely still consider Acuña to be the top power-speed player at this moment,” Forman added.

This extraordinary race to the historic 50/50 milestone showcases the evolving dynamics of Major League Baseball, where power and speed come together to create captivating narratives in the sport’s legacy.

Source: USA TODAY