Shohei Ohtani

With one of the greatest - possibly the greatest - seasons an individual baseball player has ever had, Shohei Ohtani has etched his name permanently into baseball history, accomplishing something no player has ever done by establishing himself as the sole member of the 50-50 club, swatting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases.

As he led the Dodgers to the NL West crown, through the playoffs and the World Series, knocking off the New York Yankees, four games to one, Ohtani was head and shoulders above other athletes, leading the National League in no less than eight major offensive categories, putting together a season for the ages in any sport.

Ohtani's Stat sheet reads like that of an All-Star roster.

Here are the eight categories in which Ohtani led the National League:

Plate Appearances: 731

Runs: 134

Home Runs 54

RBI: 130

On-Base Percentage: .390

Slugging: .646

On-Base plus Slugging (OPS): 1.036

Total Bases: 411

Ohtani also led the National League in extra base hits, 99, and was the leader in At-Bats per Home Run (11.8).

He also led the majors in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), registering an unreal 9.2 in that category and he led the league - unsurprisingly - in intentional walks, with 20.

Additionally, his 59 stolen bases (caught only four times) were second to Cincinnati's Ely De La Cruz, who had 67 swipes.

Ohtani was also second in hits, with 197, and in batting average, his .310 falling just short of NL leader, Luis Arraez's .314. Along with Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna, that trio comprised the only players to bat over .300 in the National League.

Over the course of the regular season, pitchers walked Ohtani 81 times. Only Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber received more bases on balls, 106 of them.

Ohtani's 636 at-bats were third league-wide. Only Ezequiel Tovar of Colorado (655) and Luis Arraez (San Diego/Miami, 637) had more. Ohtani appeared in 159 games, three short playing every game.

While Ohtani's regular season exploits were legendary, his performance in what was his first post-season was not as thrilling, batting .230 with 14 hits in 61 at-bats overall. He had three homers, a double, 10 RBI and scored 14 runs. Pitchers chose to walk him 13 times and he was caught stealing the only two times he attempted.

Shohei Ohtani, born in Oshu, Japan on July 5, 1994, turned 30 during the regular season, his seventh overall and first with the Dodgers. He previously played for the Los Angeles Angels in the American League.

June was arguably Ohtani's best month at the plate, socking 12 home runs and driving in 24 runs. During a stretch of 10 games, from June 16 to June 26, Ohtani drove in at least one run in each game for a total of 17 RBI, swatted seven home runs, walked 11 times, scored 14 times, and had 16 hits in 36 at-bats for a 10-game average of .444.

In September, Ohtani was honored as National League Player of the Month, with 42 hits in 107 at-bats for a .393 average, scoring 27 runs, with 16 stolen bases, 10 home runs, and 32 RBI. On September 19, in a game at Miami against the Marlins, Ohtani went 6-for-6, with a single, two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI. He scored four times and stole a pair of bases in a remarkable performance some believe to be the best single game ever.

Sweeping the first-place votes, Ohtani was easily awarded the National League MVP, his third such honor, having won the AL title in 2021 and 2023, also winning the Silver Slugger award this year and in those same two AL seasons. He played in his fourth All-Star game this season, and was NL Player of the Week four times in 2024 - May 5th, June 23rd, September 22nd and September 29th.

At a striking 6'4" and 210 pounds, this is probably not the last time we'll be seeing Shohei Ohtani in the winner's circle.

College Hoops Highlights Week 8
(week ending December 22)

AP Top 25 (Dec. 23)
Team Record
1. Tennessee 11-0
2. Auburn 11-1
3. Iowa State 10-1
4. Duke 10-2
5. Alabama 10-2
6. Florida 12-0
7. Kansas 9-2
8. Marquette 11-2
9. Oregon 11-1
10. Kentucky 10-2
11. Uconn 10-3
12. Oklahoma 12-0
13. Texas A&M 10-2
14. Gonzaga 9-3
15. Houston 8-3
16. Ole Miss 11-1
17. Cincinnati 10-1
18. Michigan State 10-2
19. Mississippi State 8-2
20. San Diego State 8-2
21. Purdue 8-4
22. UCLA 10-2
23. Arkansas 10-2
24. Illinois 8-3
25. Baylor 7-3

Tennessee retained the #1 spot in the AP poll, winning their only game of the week, 82-64, over Middle Tennessee State Monday night, despite trailing by six points at the half.

The Vols suffered a setback with 6'6" sophomore Cam Carr abruptly leaving the team without explanation. Head coach Rick Barnes was at a loss for words to describe why the player suddenly decided to leave the program. Carr had been riding the bench for the past month with a left thumb injury. He is expected to enter the transfer portal in March, after the season ends.

Tennessee is left with just nine scholaship players going forward, though Carr was only averaging 4.8 points per game in 10.5 minutes.

#2 Aburn's 87-69 trouncing of Purdue Saturday sent the Boilermakers reeling, down to #22 from #16 last week. Purdue, now has the most losses of any Top 25 team, with four.

Duke moved up to the #4 spot after Kentucky was walloped at Ohio State, 85-65, Saturday, while the Blue Devils ripped Georgia Tech, 82-56. Duke is now the only ACC team that is ranked as the SEC has established itself as the most dominant conference, taking up 10 of the Top 25 spots.

Besides Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma are the only teams that have not lost a game this season.

Teams are prepping for conference play, which begins in earnest after New Year's Day. The only remaining in-season tournament is the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, which concludes on Christams Day, when Nebraska tangles with Oregon State in the tourney final.

The Big 12 conference gets a jump-start, with a bunch of games the last two days of December. #17 Cincinnati plays at Kansas State, and #15 Houston visits Oklahoma State on Monday, the 30th. On Tuesday, December 31, Wiest Virginia plays at #7 Kansas, and Utah heads to #25 Baylor.

The ACC gets into the act on the 31st as well. NC State is at Virginia, Notre Dame is at Georgia Tech, and #4 Duke hosts Virginia Tech. Big East play also resumes that day, with St. John's at Creighton and #8 Marquette at Providence.

Conference action really gets rollling the first weekend of the new year. On Friday, January 3, the Big Ten gets into gear when Ohio State hosts Michigan State in a nationally-televised game on FOX (8 pm ET). SEC play starts Saturday, the 4th, headlined by #6 Florida at #10 Kentucky. Other SEC contests include Georgia at #16 Ole Miss, #23 Arkansas at #1 Tennessee, #12 Oklahoma at #5 Alabama, and Texas at #13 Texas A&M.