The Dodgers didn’t play their best on Tuesday, falling 4-2 to the Padres, but Shohei Ohtani managed to break another record.
Leading off with a ground-rule double in the first inning, Ohtani officially became the Dodgers’ single-season leader for extra-base hits, surpassing Babe Herman’s 94 set back in 1930.
Ohtani, in his first season with the Dodgers, has loved playing in L.A., calling the atmosphere “refreshing.”
“The atmosphere here at Dodger Stadium — it’s obviously a historic stadium. And the atmosphere here, it’s different. It feels fresh,” Ohtani says. “It’s just kind of a different level. So it is a refreshing feeling when I do go out there and play here.”
He’s raising the bar for what it means to be a Dodger, and expectations for this team remain sky-high, even with all the injuries.
Ohtani didn’t stop at 40/40 either. On Sept. 19 in Miami, he put together a historic 6-for-6 game, launching three home runs, swiping two bases, and driving in 10 runs. This performance pushed him to an unprecedented 50 home runs and 50 steals, making him the first player in MLB history to achieve a 50/50 season. He also shattered Shawn Green’s 2001 Dodgers record of 49 home runs.
“I think we’ve said everything we can since he’s been through this league about what an amazing player he is,” says eight-time All-Star Freddie Freeman. “But when you come here you just never know how the first year is going to go on any team. Sometimes you just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”
Ohtani has set single-season records for home runs and extra-base hits with the Dodgers and is a frontrunner for National League MVP, after winning the award in the American League last year.
This season, Ohtani also hit two of MLB’s five longest home runs, with distances of 473 and 476 feet. The latter came on June 18 in Colorado, clearing the center-field pine trees.
In addition, Ohtani set the Dodgers’ Statcast Era record with a 119.2 mph single in Toronto on April 27. He now owns the top nine hardest-hit balls by a Dodger during the Statcast Era, holding 14 of the top 15 spots overall.
“This is my job. It’s my profession. So, I have to kind of hit the ball hard,” Ohtani says. “But at the same time, there’s no explaining (the feeling) when you do get a hold of one and you barrel one up and hit it deep. If anything, if I’m helping the team win and when I’m rounding the bases and the fans are going crazy, that’s obviously all included in that feeling of any home run. So it feels great.”
Ohtani has five more games to soak in that feeling before the playoffs start, and postseason Dodger Stadium will be louder than anything he’s experienced so far.
