Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports reporter

Shohei Ohtani, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, became the first major league baseball player to reach 50 homeruns and 50 stolen bases in the same season last week during a highly-memorable 20-4 rout of the Miami Marlins, Thursday night.

Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homeruns, two doubles, two stolen bases and four runs scored.  His homeruns came in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, earning him louder and louder applause from the Miami crowd.

About a month ago, he became the first baseball player ever to reach the 40-40 club with a walk-off grand slam.  Yes, Ohtani knows how to create drama and excitement when he plays.

While Aaron Judge and Mike Trout (currently injured) are two of my favorite baseball players, Ohtani possibly moved past them with one of the best seasons ever in major league baseball history.

Ohtani should become the first full-time DH to win the National League MVP award, while Judge will most likely earn the MVP award for the AL.  

Yes, Ohtani has great speed and super power and, oh yeah, he’s also a top-notch pitcher that took the year off this year do to a pitching injury.

He came very close to hitting for the cycle as he tried to stretch one of his doubles into a triple, but was thrown out.  That’s about the only thing that went wrong for Ohtani, who seems to excel the most when the pressure is the greatest.

And, not only did Ohtani set a number of major league and franchise records, the win also guaranteed the Dodgers a playoff berth, the first for Ohtani.

I don’t know how many times I went back to watch the highlights from the game, but I can’t wait to see him in his first playoffs as the Dodgers are among several teams who could win it all this year.  Judge against Ohtani in the World Series; I’d love to see it!

(Note:  Ohtani continued his torrid streak, going 3-for-4, Friday with a stolen base, HR and two RBI; 1-for-3, Saturday with a sb; and 4-for-5, Sunday with a HR and two sb to raise his season marks to .301 batting average, .383 on-base, 53 HR, 123 RBI and 55 stolen bases.  Judge meanwhile, added another HR, Sunday and is at 55 homeruns and 138 RBI with a batting average of .323 and on-base of .458).