50/50 + Ohtani Wins MVP & World Series
In his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani did everything he could have hoped to accomplish.
From having never made the playoffs to winning his first MLB championship, it was a baseball season that Ohtani will never forget.
Breaking Records - 50/50
2024 Regular Season
After the Ohtani’s contract with the Los Angeles Angels ended after the 2023 season concluded, the following offseason was filled with drama.
To recap:
He landed a $700 million, 10-year deal with the LA Dodgers as a free agent.
He announced his new marriage to former Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka.
He showed his new dog, Decoy, for the first time – a Nederlanse kooikerhondje, or Dutch kooikerhondje.
His longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara fanned the flames of controversy when his history of gambling crimes was exposed, which he had used Ohtani’s name and reputation and bank account behind his back to conduct these illegal acts. (In June, Ippei plead guilty to bank and tax fraud charges in US federal court)
But on a new team, Ohtani carried on during the regular season as if none of it had happened. Or, he used it as fuel, as he has done in the past.
While recovering from elbow surgery in 2023, he was not going to pitch during this season. It allowed him to focus on hitting instead, while he rehabbed gradually to prepare for returning to pitching in 2025.
Ohtani started off well on his new team. Early on, he broke the record for most home runs by a Japanese-born player, when he hit his 176th on April 21 to topple Hideki Matsui’s previously-held record.
In the first half of 2024, he hit strongly enough to make the All-Star team.
He wore a custom-made suit with his dog Decoy decorating the inside of the jacket, which he was happy to display.
And during that All-Star game, he even hit a home run.
But during the second half, he was even better, and was one of the best in the league.
As the season went on, it became clear Ohtani was showing no signs of slowing down. The speculation began to build that he might chase the never-before-accomplished record of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases.
By August 4, he already had 30/30.
On August 24, he reached 40/40 by hitting a grand slam.
About a month later, on September 19, Ohtani then achieved 50-50.
However, the way he did it was arguably the most impressive part. In the game where he achieved it, Ohtani went 6-for-6 with 3 home runs, 10 RBI, and 2 stolen bases.
It’s not hard to make the case it was one of the best games by a hitter all time, if not the best. At least from a pure offensive statistics perspective. And when you combine it with it being the game where he got the new record, it’s hard to beat.
All in all, it was quite a performance at the plate over the season: 54 homers, 59 stolen bases, 1.036 OPS, 190 OPS+, .310 batting average, .646 SLG, .390 OBP, 9.2 WAR.
The Dodgers also went 98-64 and won the NL West division.
For the first time after playing 870+ regular season games, the most among active players on an active roster/IL without being in a playoff series, Ohtani would finally be a participant in the postseason.
World Series + 1st Championship
2024 Playoffs
During the National League Division Series (vs. San Diego Padres) and Championship Series (vs. New York Mets), Ohtani didn’t remain as hot as the regular season end – but most importantly, he came through in the clutch with runners in scoring position.
And he loved the atmosphere, smiling and laughing during the boo’s for him at Citi Field in the NLCS.
The Dodgers won the Best of 5 games NLDS series by 3-2 over the Padres, and then won the Best of 7 games NLCS series 4-2 over the Mets.
After making the playoffs for the first time, Ohtani was heading to the playoffs for the first time as well.
The Dodgers would be facing the New York Yankees out of the American League, providing a matchup that MLB and a global audience was looking for.
After a Game 1 where the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hit a extra innings walk-off grand slam to win it in the bottom of the 10th, Ohtani then faced an awkward injury on a fairly normal slide in Game 2 of the World Series.
He continued to play the rest of the series, but was noticeably uncomfortable and it certainly affected his game. He went just 1-for-11 with a walk and a run scored.
This was initially described as a partial dislocation, though later diagnosed as a torn labrum (he underwent surgery after and is not expected to affect him next season).
Nonetheless, the Dodgers won the series in five games after a disastrous 5th inning by the Yankees on their own field.
Ohtani, after coming to the MLB in 2018, was finally a World Series champion.
And he did it alongside his new teammate, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, another Japanese player and friend who had played his first season with the Dodgers as well.
After many claimed the Dodgers 2020 World Series win had been just a “Micky Mouse Championship” with the shortened 60-game covid season, they finally had a full-season chip to call their own.
Ohtani also got to experience a championship parade for the first time, with both his dog, Decoy, and his wife, Mamiko
MVP x3
November 21, 2024
A few weeks later, the MLB awards announcements were made.
To no surprise, Ohtani won his third MVP in the past four years – only losing once when Aaron Judge broke the AL Home Run record in 2022.
When the announcement was made, everyone was smiles except for Decoy, who decided that he wanted to dip during the announcement.
Some stats about Ohtani’s MVP win:
Ohtani is the only player with two unanimous MVP awards. 23 players have been voted unanimously, but he’s the only one to accomplish it twice.
Only player as a full-time DH to win MVP.
2nd player to win MVP in both leagues, joining Frank Robinson who did it in 1961 with the Reds and 1966 with the Orioles.
2nd player to win MVP in consecutive seasons with different teams. Barry Bonds also did it in 1992 during final year with the Pirates and 1993 during his first year with the Giants.
6th player to win an MVP award with 2 franchises (regardless of leagues).
6th player to win MVP in his first year with a new team via free agency.
4th player to win an MVP, while also winning a World Series, with a new team.
Thank you to Sarah Langs @SlangsOnSports for always providing great stats / facts. (You can donate to her #FistBumps4ALS campaign here)
The MVP capped off a massive season for Ohtani. Relive some of the moments below:
Final Notes
🎙️ If you want to hear more, check out our new podcast episode on Apple or Spotify:
🐶 One other memorable moment: On August 29, Ohtani’s dog Decoy “threw out” the first pitch. As in he took the ball in his mouth and brought it to Ohtani at home plate, which supposedly Ohtani trained him for weeks to do.
🙏🏼 Shoutout to all the great Ohtani stan accounts for always being a great resource for clips and info – including some of our favs like @shoheisaveus and more.
🎨 Thank you to the great Ohtani artists out there, including:
@247chr0 for drawing our podcast cover artwork
@hiyashichuka17 for drawing our newsletter banner design
@saitoh_katsuo for drawing the name on our newsletter sign-up page
🕒 2025 will be the pitching return and a new challenge for Ohtani after checking off many boxes this year.
