Shohei Ohtani already had an incredible Thursday at loanDepot Park, stealing two bases, the first of which gave him 50 steals on the season. He hit two home runs to tie the game at 50-50 and break the franchise home run record.

The game was already in hand, and the Marlins had position player Vidal Bruján on the mound. Chris Taylor singled with two outs to give Ohtani his sixth bat. The mood on the SportsNet LA broadcast was understandably giddy as Ohtani capped off his ridiculous day with a home run.

“Oh my god, SHOHEI OHTANI, THE GREATEST DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY,” Joe Davis said of his 51st home run“This isn’t real life. He’s not human,” Davis added later with a laugh.

Ohtani’s day was ridiculous, amazing, incomprehensible. Let’s see what Ohtani did:

• He hit a double in the first inning (off the wall in right field, almost a homerun), stole third base (#50) and scored on a sacrifice fly
• He drove in Gavin Lux in the second inning and then stole second base (#51)
• Ohtani doubled to Lux and Andy Pages in the third inning and was thrown out at third base while trying to triple
• Ohtani hit a home run in the sixth inning (#49), scoring Pages
• He hit a home run in the seventh (#50), scoring Pages again
• Ohtani hit a home run in the ninth (#51), scoring Max Muncy and Taylor

Ohtani drove in 10 runs on Thursday, the most ever in a Dodgers game. James Loney (Sept. 28, 2006) and Gil Hodges (a four-homer game on Aug. 31, 1950) held the previous club record with nine-RBI games.

Ohtani had five extra-base hits, tying the major league record. Only 15 people have done that, including three Dodgers — Ohtani, Steve Garvey (three doubles, two homers on Aug. 28, 1977) and Shawn Green (four homers, double on May 23, 2002).

Green and Ohtani are the only five-extra-base-hit gamers to have six total hits. Six hits is the Dodgers’ franchise record, done 10 times.

I’m a big fan of unique box scores, when someone’s combination of at-bats, runs, hits, and RBI hasn’t been done by anyone else. Green’s 6 6 6 7 stands alone in MLB history, as does Ohtani’s 6 4 6 10.

In 2011, I called Green’s game “the best offensive game in MLB history.” But Ohtani’s game on Thursday may have surpassed him.

First, none of the other 14 games with five extra-base hits included a stolen base, while Ohtani stole two on Thursday.

Ohtani had the First three-homer, two-steal game in MLB history, and only the 20th game with at least two of each. Mookie Betts was the last with a two-homer, two-steal game, on August 23, 2020 for the Dodgers.

Ohtani had just the seventh game ever with at least 17 total bases. Three of those are Dodgers, led by Green with 19 and Hodges with 17. The other six with at least 17 total bases all had games with four home runs and at least one other hit. None of the other six stole a base, let alone two.

Back to the 10 RBI for a moment, there were 15 previous games with double-digit RBI for Ohtani, but none of those players stole bases in their big RBI games. Ohtani stole two.

Or maybe This tweet from OptaSTATS will make the point clear:

I think that the combination of everything gives Ohtani the edge when it comes to figuring out the best individual game ever. Thursday was marked by his sheer power and sudden baserunning prowess, doing things together that had never been done before.

Ohtani now has 25 home runs and 25 steals visiting in 2024, in addition to his 26-26 at Dodger Stadium this season. No one else has ever had a 25-25 season at home or away in one season, and Ohtani did both. And there are still nine games to play.

He has 30 home runs and 35 stolen bases in his last 77 games, the only MLB player to do so in so few games. A literal 30-30 half season.

Everything Ohtani did in his lone game on Thursday was amazing in itself. But to do it in the game that reached 50 steals, reached 50 home runs and hit one of each, plus breaking Green’s franchise home run record in the process. Ohtani now has 13 games with at least one home run and one stolen base, tying the record set by Rickey Henderson in 1986. All in a game that earned the Dodgers a playoff spot, the first postseason appearance of Ohtani’s MLB career.

That’s an incredible amount of performance in one game. He got a curtain call, in an away match.

“A one-of-a-kind player, a one-of-a-kind season,” Davis said on his call of Ohtani’s 50th home run.

A unique game.