MIAMI — The greatest offensive display in baseball history reduced Shohei Ohtani’s teammates to tears. It elicited awe and childlike giggles from the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ super-talented stars, who still couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.

Baseball’s most tantalizing prospect is 50-50, and he got there in an absurd way. A unicorn player already in his own company became the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. He did it Thursday in a game the likes of which had never been seen before.

“This game has been around for a long time, and to do something that’s never been done before — it’s unique,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

No player in major league history had hit three home runs and stolen two bases in a game before Ohtani did it on Thursday, creating a 51-51 club with nine games remaining. As if that weren’t enough, Ohtani finished 6-for-6 with 10 RBIs in a 20-4 win over the Miami Marlins. Ohtani’s performance was so ridiculous that if he hadn’t had a quick relay to throw Ohtani out at third with a two-run double, he would have completed his second career cycle as well.

No one has ever had a day like this. No one has ever had a season like this. No one could believe it. Except maybe Ohtani.

He did it. 50-50. photo.twitter.com/JVNdMI5E3R

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 19, 2024

“If I’m being honest,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, “it was something I wanted to get over as quickly as possible.”

He came as close as 50-50 in the first inning when he doubled off the top of the wall and stole his 50th base of the season on the front end of a double steal. Ohtani added another stolen base before hitting an Edward Cabrera breaking ball into the upper deck for his 49th home run, tying Shawn Green’s single-season franchise record set in 2001. He had four hits when he stepped into the game in the seventh inning to face Marlins reliever Mike Baumann.

With first base empty and history in sight, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker had Baumann throw to Ohtani.

Why don’t you let him out?

“I think that’s a bad move, baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-wise,” Schumaker told reporters. “Go after him.”

With one powerful two-strike swing on a hanging breaking ball, Ohtani made history by hitting his 50th home run in the Recess Sports Lounge in left field at loanDepot Park. A crowd gathered to secure a piece of history — a group of Major League Baseball authenticators had swapped out the customary baseballs for balls specially marked for Ohtani’s at-bat — while Ohtani celebrated his accomplishment with a roar to the dugout.

Ohtani said it was a relief.

Ohtani, already immortalized in baseball, hit a home run off fielder Vidal Brujan in the ninth inning, his second visit to the upper deck that afternoon.

“I think he just felt good, felt sexy and just knew, ‘I’m going to do this today,'” Mookie Betts said. “I mean, he could have hit four homers today. I’m speechless.”

Ohtani’s fourth home run in three games in Miami capped an electric conclusion to his historic run. Closing out history with flair is a familiar sight by now. The man who capped the fastest 40-40 season in history with a walk-off grand slam somehow managed to level the stakes at 50-50.

“I can’t put my finger on it, it’s creepy,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers celebrated on Thursday. They drank but didn’t spray their drinks as they commemorated their 12th consecutive postseason berth. They toasted with glasses of Veuve Clicquot. A subdued celebration reflected the franchise’s numbing consistency over the past decade. Roberts officiated his first game for the Dodgers in 2016 and hasn’t missed a postseason since. Entire careers have come and gone during this playoff series: In October, the Dodgers will be there.

They’ve grabbed the ticket behind baseball’s biggest star this year. No active player has played more major league games without a postseason appearance than Ohtani. For six years, the alien talent languished in Anaheim, California, home of baseball’s longest playoff drought (since 2014).

“Of course I changed teams this year and my goal has always been to make the playoffs,” Ohtani said.

That, more than anything, was key to his decision to join baseball’s most consistent regular-season winner. Given the chance to underscore his new reality, Ohtani delivered a landmark performance in a game-clinching victory.

The Dodgers wore T-shirts honoring Ohtani’s 50-50 achievement. The shirts featured images of Ohtani at the plate and sliding safely to steal a base. Ohtani spoke briefly to thank his teammates, who reacted with continued awe.

“We’re looking at the best player ever and he hasn’t even thrown a ball this year,” Gavin Lux said.

“Given the things Shohei is doing, of course you have to take a moment to congratulate him,” said Teoscar Hernández.

“What we’re seeing is, like, expected,” Betts said. “It’s crazy that he’s meeting those kinds of expectations. But that’s also what leaves you speechless.”

“We all know that we’ve witnessed history,” Miguel Rojas said. “I almost cried, to be honest, because it was a lot of emotions, because of everything that goes on behind the scenes and what we get to experience every day. So it’s a pretty cool moment. We all know what he’s capable of. But for him to reach that point is pretty amazing.”

(Photo by Shohei Ohtani: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)