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Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is the fastest player to record a 40-40 season in MLB history
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Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is the fastest player to record a 40-40 season in MLB history

Shohei Ohtani is only the sixth player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season. (John Fisher/Getty Images)

Shohei Ohtani has made history again.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar became the fastest player in Major League history to join the 40-40 club on Friday, doing so in spectacular fashion with a walk-off grand slam to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3.

It looked like Ohtani wouldn’t get another at-bat in the game unless the game went into extra innings with a 3-3 tie. But Will Smith led off the ninth with a pitch and Tommy Edman followed with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Miguel Rojas and a groundout by Gavin Lux, Max Muncy pinch-hit for Enrique Hernandez and was walked to load the bases and bring Ohtani to bat.

Ohtani picked up his 40th stolen base in the fourth inning, taking second base on a leadoff single by Tyler Alexander.

Ohtani entered Friday’s game with 39 home runs and 39 stolen bases on the year. He joined the 30-30 club earlier this month in a 10-0 Dodgers win over the Oakland Athletics, making him the third-fastest player in league history to reach that mark. He did it in 108 games, one behind Alex Rodriguez’s record set in 1998 with the Seattle Mariners and 18 behind Eric Davis, who did it in 90 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 1987.

Ohtani is now the sixth player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a single season. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit the nail on the head last season when he stole an incredible 60 bases. Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and José Canseco are the other four in the 40/40 club.

All five players needed until the end of September to achieve the feat. Soriano was the previous fastest, reaching the milestone on September 16, 2006. Ohtani is almost a whole month ahead of that pace.

Ohtani is hitting .292 with a .992 OPS, along with 40 home runs this season, his first with the Dodgers. He leads the National League in home runs, trailing only New York Yankees star Aaron Judge, who hit his 49th home run of the season on Friday. Only Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz has stolen more bases this year, with 60.

Still recovering from elbow surgery that kept him off the mound this year, Ohtani has made an incredible case for the NL MVP award this season. His latest record only added to that campaign, and there’s still more than a month left in the regular season.