Add it to the list of baseball's most magical numbers: Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams' .406 batting average, Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA, Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters ... Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 season.
And he got there as only Ohtani could: with maybe the greatest individual performance in major league history, and certainly Los Angeles Dodgers history. Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three home runs, five extra-base hits, two stolen bases and 10 RBIs Thursday afternoon in Miami to get to 51 home runs and 51 stolen bases. Marlins fans honored baseball history with a curtain call on his 50th home run -- and then another one on his 51st.
Absolute goose bumps moments.
First, Ohtani became the first player in major league history with multiple home runs, multiple stolen bases and five hits in a game (he also had seven RBIs at the time). When he hit his third home run in the ninth inning, he became just the second player with six hits and five extra-base hits in a game, matching former Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green (Ohtani broke Green's club record of 49 home runs on Thursday, as well). And Ohtani is the first player with five extra-base hits and 10 RBIs in a game.
Completely wild.
His home runs came in consecutive at-bats: a 438-foot blast way into the upper deck in the sixth inning, a 391-foot shot to the opposite field in the seventh for No. 50 and then an absurd 440-foot shot in the ninth.
"He's one of one," Dodgers teammate Kevin Kiermaier recently told ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" crew.
Just as he has so many times, Ohtani has made the impossible become reality once again. How did we get here? Let's look at some of the numbers, both from his 50/50 season and throughout his career, that help us appreciate what we're witnessing.
