Cash Registers Ring As Shohei Ohtani Becomes First 50/50 Ballplayer
by Dan Schlossberg · ForbesThe minute Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers completed their 20-4 romp over the moribund Marlins in Miami Thursday, the cash registers started ringing.
Everything from T-shirts to towels went on sale in the on-line store of Major League Baseball, which obviously had the items ready to salute the first player ever to produce 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season.
Ohtani got there with a 6-for-6 afternoon at loanDepot Park that included three home runs, two doubles, two stolen bases, 17 total bases, and 10 runs batted in – not bad for a leadoff hitter.
The left-handed batter, in his first season with the Dodgers after signing a record $700 million contract as a free agent, is on the verge of reaching the playoffs for the first time in his career.
His team had been hoping he’d reach the 50/50 plateau in Dodger Stadium, where ticket prices for “the Ohtani section” have fluctuated all season.
Section 304, in right field, is the most frequent landing spot for home runs by the left-handed slugger. Before he hit his 50th home run on the road Thursday, tickets were priced at $215.60 each. After No. 50, however, prices for the section fell to $185.60, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The Dodgers change ticket prices according to supply and demand, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, the ball Ohtani hit for No. 50 could be worth more than $200,000 to the fan who caught it, Yahoo reported after consulting several baseball memorabilia experts.
As for Ohtani, who has deferred all but $2 million per year of his 10-year contract, he has generated considerable revenue for the team through an unending string of promotions.
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The list includes sponsored bobblehead doll giveaways, including one depicting Ohtani and his dog Decoy. Some fans stood in line for eight hours to receive one before supplies ran out.
This weekend, the team is touting Shohei Ohtani T-shirt Night on Saturday. The lowest ticket price for that game is $111, according to the Dodgers’ website.
At the MLB online sore, prices for 50-50 items include three different silver coins ($99.99), flags ($47.99), T-shirts ($37.99), water bottles ($34.99), vinyl figure sets($29.99), towels ($27.99), signs ($15.99), and pennants ($13.99). Commemorative hats could soon follow.
Ohtani, 30, now leads the National League in home runs (51) and runs batted in (120) while ranking second in stolen bases, fourth in walks, tied for fourth in triples, and tied for eighth in doubles.
With 51 home runs, he is now first on the Dodgers franchise list, topping Shawn Green’s mark of 49 in 2001. No other player has hit 50 home runs and stolen 50 bases in the same season, though Barry Bonds and Brady Anderson did reached those levels in separate seasons.
Ohtani, who won two Most Valuable Player trophies in the American League, seems virtually certain to join Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win the award in both leagues.
The best two-way player since Babe Ruth, Ohtani is not pitching this season because of an elbow injury. He has been throwing in the bullpen lately, however, indicating that he may try to pitch in the playoffs. In his best season as a pitcher, he won 15 games for the Angels.