MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani is now halfway to making major league history.
In his quest to become the first member of the 50-50 club, Ohtani, who became the fastest player to record 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season, reached the 50-stolen-base mark Thursday afternoon at loanDepot Park with a steal of third base in the first inning against the Marlins.
Later in the game, Ohtani moved even closer to making history by hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning, putting him one home run away from the historic feat. Ohtani, who needed only a triple for the cycle after recording two doubles and a single earlier in the deciding game, is now tied with Shawn Green for the most home runs in a single season in Dodgers history.
It’s the 13th time this season that Ohtani has hit a home run and stolen a base in the same game, tying Rickey Henderson for the record for the longest season in major league history.
With his 50th stolen base, Ohtani passed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to become the second-most Japanese-born player in major league history to steal bases. Ohtani recorded his 51st stolen base of the season in the second inning, putting him five points shy of Ichiro Suzuki’s record of 56 bases set in 2001.
At first, Ohtani appeared to be out at third base. But a missed throw by Marlins third baseman Connor Norby allowed him to slide in safely. With his two stolen bases Thursday, Ohtani has now stolen 28 consecutive bases without being caught, though he has been intercepted at first base once in that span.
