This season shouldn’t be about Shohei Ohtani’s stats.

After three years of increasingly stunning performances on the field from the two-way player, Ohtani’s move from the Angels to the Dodgers in the offseason spawned a wealth of intriguing new storylines involving the once-in-a-lifetime talent. But with Ohtani having to undergo elbow surgery at the end of last season and limited to being a DH in 2024, our collective instinct was to put our hopes of unprecedented performances on hold for a year while he worked his way back to two-way status through rehab.

In the meantime, there was no shortage of compelling subplots to follow: A $700 million free agent contract and unprecedented deferments. Ohtani’s place at the top of a lineup featuring two other MVPs, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. How he would handle his duties as DH while also recovering from the second elbow surgery of his career. A gambling scandal involving his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, that rocked the baseball world just before Opening Day. The chance to play in Anaheim in October after six straight losing seasons. Working with another Japanese superstar, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. His wife! His dog! And on and on.

Given the many other things surrounding Ohtani’s debut season in the blue Dodgers jersey, his pure statistical performance – which was temporarily limited to that of a mere hitter (and who did not play defense) – seemed to be of secondary importance.

At least that’s what we thought.

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Instead, Ohtani has once again found a way to make history. On Thursday against the Marlins at loanDepot Park, he became the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in an MLB season. And then he became the first player to hit 51 of both.

“I’m happy and relieved and have a lot of respect for my colleagues and everyone who has played baseball before me,” Ohtani said through an interpreter after the Dodgers’ 20-4 victory over the Marlins.

A playful Mookie Betts told reporters that he sensed something else from his teammate on his historic day.

“I don’t even know if it was some kind of relief,” Betts said. “I think it was like he just felt good and sexy and just knew, ‘Today I’m going to do it.’ He could have hit four home runs today.”

Ohtani’s gradual march to an incredible milestone ended with one of the best offensive performances of his already legendary major league career: six hits, three home runs, two stolen bases and ten runs batted in (a Dodgers record), a career high. No player had ever accomplished all of those things in a single major league game, and Ohtani did it while creating a club that had never existed before. Little mentioned was the fact that it was also the first three-home run game of his MLB career.

“To be honest, I’m probably the one who’s most surprised,” Ohtani said, according to the Associated Press. “I have no idea where this came from, but I’m glad it went well today.”

It was an unforgettable day at the same stadium where Ohtani gave us the unique highlight of the 2023 World Baseball Classic when he struck out Mike Trout to secure the win for Team Japan. He obviously loves playing in South Florida.

“I have experienced perhaps the most memorable moments of my career here and this stadium has become one of my favorites,” he said.

There has never been a player like Shohei Ohtani before.

So yes, the founding member of the 50-50 club is the same player who struck out 167 batters in 132 innings last year and is preparing for a possible return to the mound this postseason. Ohtani’s 50th home run marked a new Dodgers single-season franchise record, surpassing Shawn Green’s 49 homers in 2001 — and that’s practically a footnote.

Ohtani’s latest and greatest achievement has been months in the making, but until recently it was hardly a sure thing. With 14 home runs and 13 stolen bases through the end of May, he was on pace for the best power-speed season of his career, but not necessarily on pace to achieve anything unprecedented. On June 16, Ohtani hit two home runs in Kansas City, giving him a total of 19 home runs and 15 stolen bases this season. At the time, 30-30 seemed likely, 40-40 plausible.

But something else happened in that June 16 game that dramatically changed Ohtani’s season: Betts suffered a broken left wrist on a hit by pitch. That was a major blow for the Dodgers. But Betts’ two-month absence brought an unexpected dynamic to the Dodgers’ top lineup: Ohtani as a leadoff hitter.

Rather than keep Ohtani at second and replace Betts with someone else, manager Dave Roberts decided to put his newest superstar at the top of the lineup. Ohtani had some experience in that role, having started 61 games as the first hitter in his six years in Anaheim. So it was a logical solution, albeit seemingly temporary, but still a significant adjustment for Ohtani after being sandwiched between his fellow MVPs at the top of the lineup for the first third of the season.

Of course, he responded brilliantly. Ohtani adapted seamlessly to the new challenges – and opportunities – that come with the leadoff job, maintaining his power while increasing his performance on the basepaths to better embody his new role. Case in point: In his first 13 games as the Dodgers’ leadoff man, he hit eight home runs and then managed 12 total bases in July, the most he’d ever managed in a single month in his career.

In August, however, Ohtani really hit his stride – so much so that when Betts returned to the lineup, it was an easy decision for the Dodgers to keep Ohtani as their first hitter. With his 12 home runs and 15 steals in August, he became only the eighth player to hit at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases in a calendar month.

“Mookie in particular was obviously injured and out for a lot of the season,” Ohtani said Thursday. “I ended up being the first hitter. And when he came back, we decided that we should prioritize communicating with each other so that we have a better flow of the game when we hit the first two in the lineup. I think that’s something I’ll continue to do with him as we prepare for the postseason.”

Ohtani reached the 40-40 club in impressive fashion on August 23 against the Rays: After stealing his 40th base of the season in the fourth inning, Ohtani hit a walk-off grand slam for his 40th home run, securing the win for Los Angeles. The earliest of the five previous members of the 40-40 club to reach both milestones was Alfonso Soriano in 2006, who stole his 40th base in the Nationals’ 148th game of the season. Ohtani did it in Game No. 129.

That blistering pace opened the door to the unthinkable: a 50-50 season. As Ohtani had done so many times in his career, the boundaries of what was previously thought possible on a baseball field were pushed.

And so he fought his way forward and finally made the impossible possible.