Making history always seem far-fetched … until someone comes close to doing it.
On Aug. 23, against the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani stole his 40th base of the season, before blasting his 40th home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth inning, a walk-off grand slam that gave L.A. the win and catapulted Ohtani into the MLB record books.
With that performance, he became the sixth player in league history to record at least 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a single season — in short, he joined the 40/40 club.
But more history appears to (potentially) be on the horizon for Ohtani.
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Is it possible he could be the first member of the 50/50 club?
Ohtani has played 135 games on the year, and currently has 44 home runs and 46 stolen bases, meaning he has 27 games to hit six more home runs and steal four more bases.
Let’s check out the odds that Ohtani becomes the league’s first 50/50 player at FanDuel Sportsbook as of Sept. 3:
Ohtani to hit 50+ home runs and record 50+ stolen bases in 2024 regular season:
Yes: -295 (bet $10 to win $13.39 total)
No: +220 (bet $10 to win $32 total)
Ohtani’s odds to accomplish the never-before-seen feat have continued to shorten.
On Aug. 26, he was at Yes +175 and No -270. On Monday, he was Yes -125 and No -102.
However, after stealing three bases on Monday night, he is now at Yes -295 and No +220.
The six members of the 40/40 club are Jose Canseco (A’s, 1988), Barry Bonds (Giants, 1996), Alex Rodriguez (Mariners, 1998), Alfonso Soriano (Nationals, 2006), Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves, 2023) and Ohtani.
However, Ohtani accomplished the feat in 21 fewer games than any other club member.
Ohtani also has a chance to become the first player in league history to register 45 home runs and 45 stolen bases. Rodriguez stole 46 bases along with 42 homers, Soriano hit 46 homers along with 41 stolen bases, and Acuna stole 73 bases with 41 homers, but none achieved 45/45.
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