Japan in awe after Shohei Ohtani makes MLB history

Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers speaks to the media after a game against the Miami Marlins where he became the first MLB player to have at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season at loanDepot park on September 19, 2024 in Miami, Florida. Megan Briggs/Getty Images/AFP

Japan reacted with incredulity and pride on Friday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami.

“We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo.

READ: Shohei Ohtani surpasses 50-50 milestone in spectacular fashion

“We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further.”

The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news shows and social media.

Newspapers rushed out special editions in Tokyo and elsewhere, including in Ohtani’s hometown in the northern Iwate region.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, of Japan, smiles at teammates as he does a postgame interview after an MLB game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

At a speciality Iwate produce shop in Tokyo’s Ginza district, photo albums of the player and printed posters saying “Congratulations Ohtani!” were on display.

“He is amazing. Just amazing. I’m in awe,” shopkeeper Keisuke Takahashi told AFP, adding that many customers had come to the shop especially on Friday.

Outside on the city streets, consultant Tamio Watabiki, 76, said Ohtani was “like a hero for Japan”.

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“With all the gloomy news these days, his performance is the only thing that brightens my day and cheers everyone up. I’m looking forward to what he does every day.”

The 30-year-old Ohtani capped a monster performance by adding another home run in the ninth inning, finishing the game with 51 homers and 51 steals so far this season.

In Tokyo, 23-year-old Yume Hareyama, herself from Iwate, called Ohtani the region’s “source of pride”.

“There used to be nothing noteworthy about Iwate except perhaps its large expanse of land… but he has made our region famous and helped revitalise it,” she said.

Social media users were similarly awe-struck.

“He is too incredible… truly superhuman,” one wrote on X.

Nicknamed “Sho-Time”, Ohtani was a high-school baseball prodigy who signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2013 and spent five seasons there before joining the Los Angeles Angels.

There he won two American League Most Valuable Player awards in six seasons but left last year for free agency.

Following weeks of frenzied speculation, he joined the Dodgers in December.

His 10-year, $700-million deal was the richest contract in the history of North American sport.