Shohei Ohtani finished three hits short of bringing a Triple Crown into the 50-50 club.
With a 1-for-4 day at the plate Sunday, Ohtani finished his season with a batting average of .310, just short of catching the .314 mark of Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres. Ohtani won the home run title (54) and RBI title (130) by chasmic margins, but he needed just a few more base hits to win the National League’s first Triple Crown in 87 years.
The most recent NL Triple Crown was accomplished by Hall of Famer Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937. MLB has seen six Triple Crowns since then, all in the AL.
The Triple Crown represented a stretch goal for Ohtani. It would’ve sealed his 2024 season as easily one of the greatest in MLB history, but he has still proven to be worth every penny of the $700 million the Dodgers committed to him last offseason.
Shohei Ohtani officially finishes 50-50 season
Ohtani had already etched his name in baseball lore with the first 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base season in MLB history. The closest player to have reached the two thresholds was Alex Rodriguez in 1998, with a 42-46 season. But Ohtani didn’t just create the 50-50 club; he opened it with fireworks.
Entering a Sept. 19 game against the Miami Marlins with 48 homers and 49 stolen bases, Ohtani authored the best single-game offensive performance MLB has ever seen outside of a four-homer game. He went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals, four runs and 10 RBI, reaching 51-51 in the same game.
It somehow dwarfed how he reached 40-40 in record time, with a walk-off grand slam.
Ohtani finished his season with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, numbers that might never be equaled. Beyond those two numbers, Ohtani hit .310/.390/.646, leaving him as a mortal lock to win his third career MVP award in four years and first in the NL.
Ohtani would join Frank Robinson as the only player in MLB history to win the award in both leagues.
Aaron Judge also needed a batting title for a Triple Crown
It was a similar but less dramatic story in the American League.
New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge also demolished the competition in homers (58) and RBI (144) but came up short of the batting title at .322, behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He would have won the Triple Crown had he posted those numbers in the NL.
Like Ohtani, Judge is very likely to hear his name called when MLB announces its MVPs this offseason.
There were still 2 Triple Crowns this season
Ohtani and Judge might have fallen short, but there will still likely be two Triple Crowns in MLB this season — both on the pitching side.
Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers clinched the AL Triple Crown with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. The Atlanta Braves’ Chris Sale is also in line for the NL Triple Crown, with 18 wins, a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts, but he might pitch again Monday.
It’s only the second time in the past 100 seasons that both leagues have seen a pitching Triple Crown, with the other season being 2011 (Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw).
No pitcher has ever lost the Cy Young Award after winning the Triple Crown.
