Shohei Ohtani records first 50-50 season in MLB history: Dodgers superstar hits 50 homers and steals 50 bases
For the first time in Major League Baseball history, a player has hit 50 home runs and stolen 50 bases in the same season. On Thursday, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hit his 49th and 50th home runs of 2024, and also stole his 50th and 51st bases of the season, making him a founding member of the 50-50 club.
Here's Ohtani's historic 50th home run to make it 50-50:
Thursday marked the 13th time this season that Ohtani hit a home run and stole a base in the same game. That ties the single-season record set by Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson in 1986.
Ohtani isn't just the first player with 50 homers and 50 steals in a single season. He's just the third player to have a 50-homer, 50-steal season at any point in his career, joining Barry Bonds (73 homers in 2001 and 52 steals in 1990) and Brady Anderson (50 homers in 1996 and 53 steals in 1992).
It should be noted that the 50 home runs set the Dodgers franchise record for a single season. Here is the standings:
- Shohei Ohtani, 2024: 50 (and counting)
- Shawn Green, 2001: 49
- Adrian Beltre, 2004: 48
- Cody Bellinger, 2019: 47
- Several tied with 43
Ohtani's 50 homers and 51 stolen bases are career highs. His previous career high for homers was 46 in 2021, his first MVP season with the Los Angeles Angels. Prior to 2024, Ohtani had never stolen more than 26 bases in a season. Our RJ Anderson recently took an in-depth look at Ohtani's sudden base-stealing prowess..
Ohtani's base-stealing pace has improved significantly in recent weeks, suggesting that 50-50 had become a goal. He stole five bases in April, eight in May and just three in June. Ohtani then stole 12 bases in July, 15 in August and has eight steals in September. He has more steals in the second half (28) than in the first half (23) despite having played 38 fewer games.
Ohtani joined the 40-40 club with a walk-off grand slam on Aug. 24.He reached 40-40 in just 129 team games, by far the fastest in history. Here are the six 40-40 MLB seasons:
Ohtani, of course, is hitting exclusively this season as he completes his rehab from elbow surgery he suffered last September. A year ago, he hit a league-leading 44 homers and pitched 132 innings with a 3.14 ERA and 167 strikeouts en route to his second unanimous MVP award. Ohtani is making progress with his rehab and is expected to pitch again in 2025..
The Dodgers signed Ohtani to a massive 10-year, $700 million contract last offseason. The deal includes significant deferrals — Ohtani will receive just a $2 million annual salary from 2024-33 — that reduce the current value to roughly $460 million. That’s still a record contract in terms of total value and average annual value.
Los Angeles has nine games left in the regular season, so Ohtani still has time to add to his home run and stolen base totals.
