Steve Webb
DENVER, CO — Once he hit the 50/50 mark it was only a matter of time. And on Friday night, in the 160th game of the year, Shohei Ohtani surpassed his childhood hero, Ichiro Suzuki for most stolen bases by a Japanese-born player.
The play came in the top of the second inning with the Dodgers up 4-1 with one out. Shohei had just singled for his first hit of what would be a four-hit game. With runners at the corners and Mookie Betts at the plate with an 0-1 count, Shohei took off for second. Usually, with a runner on third, it’s a free stolen base because the catcher eats the throw. But Rox backstop Jacob Stallings inexplicably threw through and the ball bounded into center field, allowing the run to score and Shohei to scamper to third (it was that kind of night for the Rockies).
While Ohtani has broken the single season mark for Japanese-born players, he still trails Ichiro by quite a few bags. During his Hall of Fame career, Suzuki stole 509 bases. Shohei, who just discovered the joys of basestealing this year, has only 142, good for third place on the all-time list for players from the Land of the Rising Sun. Sandwiched in between these two legends is the Dodgers’ skipper Dave Roberts, who swiped 243 bags during the course of his career.
Shohei at the age of 30 is already in the top three for Japanese players in almost every category. He’s third in runs scored (behind Ichiro and Hideki Matsui), third in hits (Ichiro and Matsui again), third in batting average (same two dudes), third in RBI (yep, Ichiro and Matsui again). There is one mark that Ohtani stands alone in, and that is home runs. His 225 (and counting) have far surpassed Matsui’s 175 and Ichiro’s 117. Clearly, Shohei is the best baseball player that the country of Japan has ever produced, and maybe the best baseball player that this planet has ever produced.
This stolen base mark is only the latest of a litany of records to fall in Ohtani’s inaugural season with the Dodgers. I’m sure once this whirlwind is over, we’ll tally up all the marks, but right now, we’re just watching mouths agape as Ohtani continues to amaze.
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