In 2011, Matt Kemp stole 40 bases and hit 39 HR’s. That was as close as any Dodger had ever gotten to a 40-40 season. Matt played in 161 games that year. He hit his 39th homer in the last game of the year. Matt would be injured crashing into the wall at Coors Field in 2012 and never came close to 40-40 again.
On Friday, August 23rd, 2024, Shohei Ohtani did something no MLB player ever has done. He reached 40 homers and 40 steals in the same game. And he did it dramatically as the Dodgers came from down 3-0 to win 7-3. Ohtani’s 40th homer was a walk-off grand slam.
Dodger Stadium went nuts. And in the postgame interview, Shohei got his first Dodger Gatorade bath. Miguel Rojas did the honors. Shohei also did it faster than any player had before. It took him 126 games to become the 6th ever MLB player to post a 40-40 season.
Jose Canseco was the first to do it in 1988. Barry Bonds was the first National League player to reach the milestone. He did it in 1996. Alex Rodriguez, 1998, Alfonso Soriano, 2006, and Ronald Acuna, 2023, were the other players making it to the milestone. Acuna stole 73 bases last year. Acuna just missed doing it in 2019 when he had 41 homers and 37 steals.
I believe that it wasn’t accomplished much sooner in the history of the game is because the players in those days were either speedsters or power hitters. They were not the athletes’ players are today. Also, the conditions under which the game is played today, and back then, are so much different.
For one, you do not have ballparks that have the dimensions that some fields had in those eras. There is no Polo Grounds with a center field fence that no one hit the ball over. Forbes Field had huge dimensions too. Yes, there were fields then that were very hitter friendly, but opponents did not play there often enough to benefit from that.
Stadiums today are much more uniform. Although not the same dimensions, the average distances to the fences are much closer. So, home runs still can come in bunches. As for the stolen bases, baseball changing the size of the bases themselves, limiting pick off plays to two before they can call a balk, and the pitch clock, have allowed runners to take more chances.
It will be something over the next several years to see if Ohtani, once he returns to the mound, can put up these kinds of offensive numbers. I do think playing on the Dodgers with all of the talent around him and not having to be “The Man” like he was with the Angels whenever Trout was out of the lineup, will make him a better hitter, and not just a slugger.
He hit .304 last year in 135 games. He is at .292 this year in 128. He is 3 hits shy of his total from last year. He is 1 RBI away from his total last season. Production wise, he should surpass all of last season’s numbers. It is still my belief he is wasted as a leadoff hitter, but that is simply my opinion. 
Minor League Results
Wisconsin 5 Great Lakes 2: De Paula went 2-4, he is hitting .222. Biddison went 2-5 with a homer. Romero gave up 4 runs and took the loss.
Tulsa 5 Springfield 3: Santana was 2-3 with a homer. Davis was 1-3 with a homer. Alleyne was 2-3 with an RBI. Ferris went 4 innings giving up 5 hits, 2 runs a walk and 2 strike outs. Morillo got the win with 2 scoreless innings.
OKC 5 El Paso 3: Dalton Rushing hit his 3rd homer. Lipcius drove in the winning runs in the bottom of the 8th with 2 strikes and 2 outs. OKC trailed 3-0 at one point but scored 5 unanswered runs over the next 4 innings for the win. Wrobleski went 5 innings allowing 8 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and 9 Ks. Four relief pitchers kept El Paso off of the scoreboard after they scored 2 in the top of the 5th. Henriquez got the win, and Michael Petersen got his 9th save. OKC won 5 of the 6 games. The second consecutive series where they have won 5.
Lake Elsinore 8 Rancho 3: After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, a five-run top of the sixth by Lake Elsinore could not be overcome by the Quakes. They did rally for 2 in the bottom of the 7th, but a 3-run ninth by the Storm sealed the defeat. Patick went 4 scoreless innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 2. Alex Makarewich pitched 1.1 innings allowing 5 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. He struck out one and was tagged with the loss. The Quakes managed 6 hits, Quintero, Munoz and Meza drove in the runs. Hope went 1-3 with 2 walks and he scored a run. Kendall George is still on the 7-day IL.
Around the League
The Cubs outrighted infielder, David Bote to AAA. Robbie Ray left his start for the Giants with a tight hamstring. The Pirates placed C, Joey Bart on the IL and recalled C Henry Davis. The Rays are selecting the contract of RHP, Erasmo Ramirez. Jacob Lopez, who started against the Dodgers on Sunday will be sent back to AAA. The Pirates are placing CF, Michael A. Taylor on outright waivers. The Nationals optioned C, Riley Adams to AAA and are calling up top prospect Dylan Crews. Crews was the #2 selection behind LSU teammate, Paul Skenes. The Marlins are calling up prospect Griffin Conine. The Tigers are calling up pitching prospect, Ty Madden. The Marling claimed Mike Baumann of waivers from the Angels. Mets infielder, Brett Baty will miss 4-6 weeks with a finger fracture. X-Rays of Ohtani’s forearm, where he was hit by a pitch showed no damage.
Good and important win with the D-Backs and Padres just not slowing down.
Hopefully the x-rays on Ohtani were true.It looked so similar to what happened to Mookie.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
When Shohei was signed, I thought 50 HRs was a possibility. He’d be protected in the lineup and get more ABs with an offensive juggernaut.
I had not expected the Dodgers to let him run wild.
With 31 games to play, a 50-50 season is possible.
Not likely, but possible….
The batting order is looking complete with the return of Mookie and Muncy and the addition of Edmund.
Starting pitching is a major concern of mine with Glasgow and Yamamoto not being a sure thing. Addition of Flaherty softens the loss of those two a bit, but we need a pre-injury Yamamoto to show up in a big way.
Need Smith to hit like he did early in the season and the line-up will be even more complete.
Hoping Graterol can return and be impactful. His stuff plays up in the post season and Kelly needs to be placed on the post season taxi squad. Hudson scares me to death with a close game on the line.
Rushing has gone 8-for-21 and has reached in all 18 games since arriving in OKC.
i don’t have velocity or pitch info, but in six games:
381 with four walks and two extra-base hits
40-40. Great accomplishment. Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle could have done it if they wanted to. Probably multiple times. I think Ohtani can reach 50-50 though 48-50 is probably more likely.
Something is wrong with both Freddie and Smith. Freddie is OPS’n. .560 in the last two weeks, .678 in the last 28 days. Smith’s slump is even longer. Much longer in fact, going back to June. He’s a bottom of the order hitter now.
Speaking of that, something I wanted to mention in yesterday’s thread. From the 6th inning on, if all goes according to plan, the bullpen will face the top of the order once. When Kopech came in the other day, after pitching the night before, Doc brought him in to face the bottom of the order. Didn’t work out. That’s where I would use Kelly. No matter what inning in which that happens, that’s when I would use him. And I know it won’t always be possible, but there’s a few down there I would prefer not using back to back days. Not yet anyway. Maybe later in September but not now. Sure helps when the starter goes 7 doesn’t it. Stone’s done it 8 times in 24 starts. Twice in row. He leads the team in wins an IP. He’s been the ace of this staff.
With Ohtani throwing off a mound.
Guys and gals, imagine this scenario:: Dodgers in Game 7 of the WS. Lead by one. All pitchers in the pen already used. Need 3 outs for the title. Then Ohtani picks up his pitching glove and comes in to close it out. Legendary stuff.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see a lot of those players were on the juice. Which makes it even more impressive.
“It is still my belief he is wasted as a leadoff hitter, but that is simply my opinion.”
I think this has already hurt the Dodgers in some games, and will do the same in the playoffs. I also believe it hurts his stats. I think it’s borderline dumb LOL.
Has J Heywad been picked up yet or were the dodgers correct and he is just done with baseball. If he was of any help I would surely think someone like the Royals or Guardians would want his veteran leadership or the Braves.
Just some random thoughts:
*Bear mentioned “you do not have ballparks that have the dimensions that some fields had in those eras”.
Dodger Stadium is one of the few parks in the league that is symmetrical. That went out of style with the multipurpose domes and astroturf. The older parks and the newest parks all seem to have some interesting nooks and grannies that makes outfield play interesting. I have no stats on that, just my guess.
*Nice to see Stone pitching well. He has little fugues during the game but he’s showing the ability to right the ship.
*I wonder how much Freddie Freeman’s recent struggles could be effecting his at concentration? He’s such a pro and he would never admit it publicly but he’s had distractions; struggles with his son’s health, cracking his finger, which he’s playing through, and the DFA of his good pal Heyward.
Since Heyward’s DFA, Freddie’s 1 for 13. That may be a coincidence but that’s a lot on his plate to cope with lately. Just Sayin.
Bear, earlier you and Bluto were having a conversation with regard to the possibility of Rushing’s being added to the playoff roster.
You said that he’d have to be added to the 40-man by the end of the month to be eligible.
That’s actually not correct. A player need only be “in the organization” by Aug 31st in order to be eligible, so technically any player on any of the four Dodger minor league teams could be added to the playoff roster.
Pirates are moving O’neal Cruz to CF.
I seem to remember Kemp hitting a ball in the last game of the year that was caught up against the right center fence in San Diego that in most parks would have been a home run and it would have given him 40 for the year. He was a foot away from being a 40 40 guy.
Does anyone know what is going on with Outman.
I really don’t know how I feel about Ohtani leading off. If he is going to lead off we need somebody at the bottom to get on. On the plus side Leading off means you get more at bats. It just seems like in the first inning he swings at the first pitch and makes an out. Then, u feel like it was a wasted at bat. What I do like is u don’t have him and freeman hitting back to back where a lefty neutralizes both of them. Also, it is nice when they bring in the lefty for Ohtani and Betts gets to bat against the lefty. That was the situation when Betts hit the 2 run homer to win the game. Betts is very good against lefties. I would rather he lead off as Ohtani and freeman hitting back to back. For a variety of reasons freeman has just not been Freeman this year and Smith has been no help after the first of the season. I think Freeman and smith should have a huge hot streak left in them.
Padres thumping the Cardinals in the seventh inning, 7-2. Looks like they will pick up half a game.