It is shocking and yet still not surprising that Shohei Ohtani, even in a year where he is limited to showing dominance only at the plate instead of as a dual pitching and hitting threat, has still found a way to transcend the sport of baseball.
RandBall: Shohei Ohtani, Twins and Vikings are three different 50-50 club members
Shohei Ohtani, one of baseball’s greatest players, had one of baseball’s greatest games while achieving an unprecedented 50 homer and 50 stolen base season. Meanwhile, things are suddenly 50-50 for the Twins and Vikings.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 20, 2024 at 5:04PM
In his first year with the Dodgers, while limited to a designated hitter role while he recovers from Tommy John surgery, Ohtani on Thursday had one of the greatest days at the plate in MLB history: 6-for-6 with three home runs, two stolen bases, two doubles, 17 total bases and 10 runs batted in.
In the process, he became baseball’s first member of the 50-50 club — at least that many homers and steals in a season — and added one more in each category for good measure. Oh, and the Dodgers clinched a playoff spot with the victory.
The modern-day Babe Ruth, who sports a 3.01 career ERA in 86 starts and finished fourth in the AL Cy Young voting in 2022, could be well on his way to a third MVP award in four seasons.
As someone who remembers when entering the 30-30 club was a big deal and followed Jose Canseco’s successful quest to topple the 40-40 barrier, it is almost unfathomable to conceive of a 50-50 season — something I talked about on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Almost as amazing: How the Twins and Vikings have so quickly entered the realm of 50-50 clubs, too.
Barely more than a week ago, the Twins had a better than 90% chance of reaching the postseason. They were slumping, sure, but nobody was putting any heat on them in the wild-card race.
That changed in a hurry. Detroit continued a month-plus surge, and now the Tigers — 11 games back of the Twins a little more than a month ago — have an identical 80-73 record with nine games to play.
FanGraphs still gives the Twins a slight edge in locking down the last spot, a generous offering fueled only by the Twins holding the tiebreaker edge over Detroit. The way both teams are playing right now, and knowing Detroit gets to finish the year with three home games against the putrid White Sox, let’s consider it 50-50 at best that the Twins hold on.
The Vikings? They’re trending upward. ESPN’s Football Power Index had them at a projected 6.8 wins before the season started, with a 15% chance of making the playoffs. But a 2-0 start, impressive in both result and process, has lifted those totals to 9.3 wins and a 53% chance of making the postseason.
More information about both the Twins and Vikings, for better or worse, will be gleaned this weekend during a road test against the Red Sox and a home opportunity against the Texans.
Here are four more things to know today:
- Minnesota Star Tribune WNBA writer Kent Youngblood joined Friday’s podcast to set up the Lynx in the postseason. As the No. 2 seed after a wildly successful 30-10 regular season, Minnesota has legitimate championship aspirations. The playoffs start at 4 p.m. Sunday at Target Center against Phoenix.
- Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, has been relegated this week to emulating Raiders QB Gardner Minshew as part of the Panthers scout team.
- Star Tribune sports editor Ryan Kostecka and I went head to head in fantasy football on Friday’s podcast, bringing you some sleepers to watch this weekend in the process.
- A rookie quarterback hasn’t thrown a TD pass yet in the NFL this season. Which one will end up throwing the most? La Velle E. Neal III and I debated that subject, one near and dear to La Velle and his beloved Bears.
Heading into Sunday's game against the Vikings, the Bears have lost four in a row with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and a shuffled offensive staff. But looks can be deceiving.
