Fastball

Shohei Ohtani Makes All Kinds of Baseball History with Steal and a Walk-Off Grand Slam

With his 40th steal of the season on Friday night, Shohei Ohtani joined some baseball history that we haven't seen since the 1890s. Oh yeah, he also hit a walk-off grand slam.

Brady Farkas

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) beats the throw to Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz (2) for a single in the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium on Aug 23.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) beats the throw to Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz (2) for a single in the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium on Aug 23. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani made baseball history in multiple ways on Friday night. The superstar hit a walk-off grand slam as the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays. With that grand slam, and a stolen base earlier in the game, he reached the 40/40 plateau in the fewest games in baseball history.

According to Arash Markazi of the "Sporting Tribune," Ohtani is also just the sixth player in history to reach 40/40.

By stealing the base, Ohtani also did something that hasn't been since the 1890s, according to MLB Insider Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

at least 1 season with at least 40 SB AND 1 season with 200 pitching strikeouts:

Shohei Ohtani
Kid Gleason
John Ward
Dave Foutz
Guy Hecker

the 4 other than Ohtani did so before both the mound was moved to its current distance (1893) + the modern SB rule was adopted (1898)

Ohtani's blend of offensive and pitching ability is truly unmatched in the last century. He's not pitching this year because of injury but he remains one of the best arms in baseball on the mound, and should return to the mound in 2025. Lifetime, he's 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA. He's struck out 608 batters in 481.2 innings.

The presumptive favorite for the National League MVP, Ohtani now also has 92 RBI.

The 30-year-old continues to be the most electric player in the game, even without his pitching ability to showcase. He won the MVP Award twice with the Los Angeles Angels of the American League (2021 and 2023).

The Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays will play again on Saturday night with first pitch coming at 9:10 p.m. ET. The Dodgers continue to lead the National League West.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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