September 29, 2025 • 20 mins
Originally published September 20, 2024. With the 2025 baseball regular season in the books, and with Shohei Ohtani passing his own franchise single-season homerun record on the last game of the season, DBD CLASSICS presents a rebroadcast of “Shohei Ohtani: 50-50 Ichiban."
Shohei Ohtani makes history by creating the 50-50 club: hitting 50 homeruns, and stealing 50 bases, in a single season. The most exclusive club of all time. A club of one. Ichiban.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, my Dodger Blue Dreamers Richard. Here. It is Sunday afternoon,
September twenty eighth, as I record this, and the final
game of the season is in the books. What a
perfect way to cap off the twenty twenty five baseball season.
Kersh with five plus shutty seven strikeouts looked good in
(00:23):
the final regular season start of his Hall of Fame career.
Bulpin held the lead and put the cherry on top.
Sho he Otani did what only Show he Otani can do.
There's a high drive left ciner field that is gone.
(00:44):
His fifty fifth home run of the twenty twenty five
baseball season sets a new Dodgers franchise record, passing Show
Hey Otani, the very same who hit fifty four last year.
Myself and team DBD are hard work on the next
brand Spank and new canonical full length episode of DBD
(01:06):
schedule to come out on Friday of this week. But
in the meantime, speaking of Show Hey and record setting
home runs, we thought we'd play one from the vault
just to keep your beak wet till Friday. So this
is a rebroadcast all about Show Hey. Hope you enjoy
this DBD Classic Show Hey Otani, fifty to fifty Ichi bon.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Ititch time for Dodger baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I'm recording myself because he could hit fifty right now.
Yesterday September nineteenth, twenty twenty four was a dream. Yeah,
let's watch. Let's start here with show Hey Otani on
the precipice of baseball history.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
One two, Oh Tommy Saxon Larey Bucks, one of the
game player, one of a curt season.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So hey o Tommy, let's start the fifty sixty club.
He's done it, that thing that only he knows how
to do again, fifty home runs and fifty stolen bases
(02:36):
in the same season, the first baseball player in the
history of the game we've seen thirty thirty, forty forty
is cool too. A fifty to fifty. That's a new club,
and it is a club of one Ichi Bond And
who's on the list only the best baseball player that
the game may ever see. Show, Hey o, Tommy. And
(03:00):
it's not just that Shohy did this during what will
go down in history as perhaps the best offensive baseball
game ever played, one of the greatest displays of athletic
prowess ever yeah, so how did he do it? What
does it all mean? Why am I crying? Sitting on
my couch in the middle of the day, crying at
(03:22):
the TV scream. Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream, a documentary
about the Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty four baseball season,
made in real time as the season unfolds. I'm Richard
Parks the Third, I'm a writer, I make soundscapes, and
I love the Dodgers. Today's episode shohy Otani fifty to
(03:45):
fifty Itchy Bond. If you're looking for broad context about
how rare the combination of speed and power that we
see in Showy Is, check out our episodes. This is
almost forty forty and forty forty vision about show hay
(04:07):
Is becoming just the sixth player ever to go forty forty.
Today we're telling the story of the fifty to fifty game.
Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Chance at a winning trip and a chance to clinch
a postseason birth today with a win if you have
that guy right there, so Hey, we're talking to who
wants to.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Be going into the game. Yesterday, show Hey had forty
nine stolen bases and forty eight home runs. Two dingers
and just one swipe away from that magic number or
numbers fifty to fifty. And even though we've become accustomed
to expecting the impossible, when it comes to Show Hey,
(04:47):
two homers in a game is a lot, and combining
that with a steal suffice it to say that I
was tempering my excitement. Humbly. I prayed for a Dodger win,
because with a win, the Boys in Blue would clinch
their twelfth consecutive postseason.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Never been to the playoffs, eight hundred and sixty five games.
That will change, Marlins.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Give the ball to and for Show Hey, it would
be his first postseason ever. In fact, going into this game,
Show Hay had played in more games than any other
big leaguer without getting to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Show. Of course, I'll lead off the lineup for Dave
Roberts today.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
First inning, Show Hay leading off, getting closer and closer
to a big league mile.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
All ho Tonni smokes the squat a right center field
off the.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
A rocket off the center field wall that missed going
out by just a couple feet to start this fall again,
and in the blink of an eye, Show Hay was
on second Tol him base for show Hey, Oh, Johnny
not only would be number fifty if he gets the third,
he's picking the bag up.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I'll bet that'd be kind of great. Lake Ricky Henderson
hold it over to a why in the room?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Show Hay is fast, but he's not the fastest base
ballplayer around. He's not even the fastest Dodger in terms
of sprint speed. He ranks fifth on the Dodgers squad
this year. This year, while he's rehabbing from elbow surgery,
Shohey decided to up the annie. Because he's not pitching,
he decided to focus on his running game instead. He
(06:19):
worked with Dodgers' training staff to develop a more explosive sprint.
And this is really the key. He's become obsessed with
studying opposing pitchers' moves and he's been able to roughly
double his previous high of stolen bases with smart base running.
Before this season, the most bases he had ever stolen
was twenty six, and here he was standing at second,
(06:43):
one stolen base away from fifty on the year.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
There they go.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
The Marlins catcher threw a bullet to the third baseman
who had the ball and glove well ahead of Otani slide.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Throw it a third beats it.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
But as show Hey got airborne, hurtling towards the dirt
in front of the bag, he extended his right leg
at an angle out towards the outfield toe tip up heel,
hitting the dirt on the outfield side of the bag,
and so the third baseman's mit had to come around
from the home plate side and rotate all the way
back around one hundred and eighty degrees to apply the tag.
(07:19):
How he got his done the fiftieth for Otani, fifty
stolen bases.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Gotta grab that base one that Altani touches for his
fiftieth stolen base.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And of course they get the base and authenticated. It's
probably gonna be in the Baseball Hall of Fame soon,
but in general, it's kind of an understated moment. First inning,
smart slide, tip of the cap, few extra high fives.
There's a baseball game to play, and Shohy was just
getting started.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Show Hey, who hit his forty eight home running Game one,
stole his forty ninth base in Game two, has stolen
his fiftieth base in Game three.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And it's one zero Dodgers. When show he comes up
again in the top of the second with two on.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
That that's a basic to right field. Otani's two for two.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And he felts one to right, knocking in Max Monthlys.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
He's got a stolen base, he's got a run scored,
he's got to run batted in, and this game's been
going for like twenty minutes now.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Show he's got a double and a single. That means
that he has a shot at hitting for the cycle.
He just needs a homer, which would be his forty ninth,
and of course the ever elusive triple.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It brings up Voltadi and sho.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hey gets to bat again for the third time, already
in the top of the third inning with two on,
two wednings.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
He's got two hits, two stolen bases, are run scored,
and a run knocked in. Slashes his third head of
the game into the left center field gap, walks into score.
Here comes patez Otani heading for third plight in time.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But show Hey gets thrown out trying to stretch it
into a triple, making the third out at third base.
So much for the cycle. He doesn't come up again
until the sixth inning, with one man on and the
Dodgers up seven to three.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
To get Oti back to the plate. Three for three
through three innings.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Today, this is where things kind of take a turn.
No Dodger in the history of the Dodgers has ever
hit fifty home runs. The closest anybody ever came was
in two thousand and one. Sean Green hit forty nine
that year, and it is a franchise record that has
stood for twenty three years now. So as shohe stands
(09:42):
at the plate in the sixth inning, with one man
on and the Dodgers up seven to three, he has
a chance to give his team some insurance runs, and
he has a chance to tie an all time Dodger
record for home runs in a single season. And what
do you think he does?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Sounds one of the air page right field.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
He's had a world of his own. It's a two
run homer. The Dodgers lead at nine to three. Shaw
hell Ty.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Is now tied for the all time Dodgers single season
home run record with forty nine.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
This gargantuan home run, hit very hard and very high
and way up into the upper deck in right field,
gave me the distinct sensation that something special was going
on all right. He just hit his forty ninth home run,
and it was way gone. As I pumped my fist
with excitement, I knew we were gonna win this game.
(10:42):
My goodness, we're going to the postseason. Wow. But as
I kept pumping my fist, I realized, Holy sh it's
just the sixth inning. If he comes up again, he
could go fifty to fifty. He's not just going to
win the game for the team and get us to
(11:04):
the postseason. I think he's going to do it today.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Three runs driven in good. Here we go here, he comments.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
And as luck would have it, show Hay came up
to hit again the following inning, the top of the seventh.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
He's matched the franchise record for a single season with
forty nine. He's won away from the first fifty to
fifty season.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Ever, there were runners on second and third, which posed
an interesting question should the Marlins walk show Hay to
put him on first base and create a force out opportunity.
The TV cameras showed a close up of Skip Shoemaker,
the Marlins manager, that he says, I've got too much
(11:50):
respect for the guy, or maybe he said I've got
too much respect for the game. Either way, the point
had been made clearly. They were going to pitch to
show Hey, We're going to try to get him out,
but they were going to let him play the game,
which meant, for the first time ever, he had a
chance to hit his fiftieth home run. Michael Bauman is
(12:12):
on the mound for the Marlins. He winds up and
deals a slow knuckle curveball at eighty eight miles per hour.
Show Hey takes a massive cut and swings straight through it.
Strike one second pitch, four seam fastball up in the
zone at ninety six. Another huge cut, this time, show
(12:35):
Hey fouls it off. It's zero to two. Third pitch
knuckle curve at eighty seven, all the way to the
backstop and a run comes in. But frankly, I'm not
watching the scoreboard on Auman looks in, gets the sign
(12:55):
come set, kicks and deals another knuckle curve. This one
floats out over the plate and up into the zone.
Time slowed down and even seemed to pause. I felt
the earth spin on its axis, and the crazy vibes
(13:17):
from the Fallpark in Miami felt like they were being
piped straight into my living room.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Low Time Sex one of the air the other way,
fucking gos won of a Cauren Blair won of achin season.
So hell, time starts to fifty fifty o'clock.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
In those knotty feeling moments in which I had allowed
myself to dream that shohe would reach fifty to fifty
this year, I thought about him hitting it at home,
maybe in a high stake situation, winning the ball game
with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and
the bases loaded, like he did for forty forty. But
you know what, the way he got to fifty to
(14:11):
fifty in Miami was perfect. He hit that knuckle curve
off the end of his bat. It was the type
of swing and connection that normally wouldn't generate a home run.
But because it's Show Hay and he swings so hard
and he's so strong, the ball just acts different. That's
like a classic Show Hey home run. It's like a
(14:32):
hit that wouldn't go out, except because of how strong
he is and how hard he hits the ball, it
goes out. And now I'm going to play some audio
from a fan camera, a person who had a front
row seat to where the ball landed and the bedlam
that ensued once it did.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, my god,
my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
After swinging that mighty blow, sho Hay took a moment
to make sure that the ball was going out, and
he turned around to fire up his teammates with a yell,
tossing the bat at side before running to first, crying
out with elation, big hugs from Kiky Hernandez and Miguel Rojas,
an energetic sunflower seed shower from Tascar Hernandez and embraced
(15:22):
from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, and high fives from everybody.
The crowd in Miami was small. The Marlins are a
last place team, but the stadium got so loud that
Shohey had to come out for a curtain call. As
a visiting ballplayer who had just single handedly guaranteed the
defeat of the hometown team, even a Marlins fan could
(15:43):
appreciate what they had just witnessed.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
He achieved history with a one day rampage September nineteenth,
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Officials from Major League Baseball came into the dugout to
collect all of sho Hay's gear and authenticate it. His
batting gloves, his cleats, which were illustrated with an image
of his beloved dog decoy, the armor that he wears
when he goes to the plate on his pitching arm,
and I get it. All this stuff belongs in a
museum for posterity. But also my first thought at the
(16:16):
time was aren't we a little superstitious about this wardrobe change,
new batting gloves. I mean, I don't think he should
change out of that outfit that he was wearing ever,
But whatever history has been made, the games in the bag,
the Dodgers are going to the postseason. Showhy is going
to get to play October baseball for the first time
in his career, and he did it almost single handedly.
(16:38):
He was already five for five with seven RBIs. It
didn't feel like it was possible to dream any bigger.
And in the ninth inning, with the score fourteen to three,
at least a couple guys would have to get on
in order for show Hay to come up.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Now, Oh, Tony waits on deck, Taylor's got to reach.
Let's go do it for the people. They did, Yes,
and we will see show hey Oltani one more time
today and guess what happened? We all are watching this guy.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I guess, so Tony the greatest day as history fifty one.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Home runs or show hey, old Tony.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Another home run, just a towering blast, a good ten
rows above where anybody was seated in the upper deck
and right field. And with that, show Hey dropped the
mic and the bat. Fifty to fifty is so seventh inning.
The new hot club in town is fifty one fifty one.
(17:50):
Show Hey finished the day six for six, three home runs,
two doubles, He almost hit for the cycle, he had
two stolen bases, and he drove in ten runs by himself.
Immediately the buzz started. This might have been the best
individual performance in a baseball game in history, and he
(18:15):
did it in a game that guaranteed him and his
team would play in the postseason. With this clutch performance
in such an important game late in the season and
the creation of the fifty to fifty club for the
first time ever, it's pretty much guaranteed Shohei o Tani
will be the National League Most Valuable Player for twenty
(18:36):
twenty four. In Japanese, ichibon means number one, but it
also means first and also best. I'm recording myself because
he could hit fifty right now. Yeah, let's watch. I'm
(18:59):
gonna end by playing this. Whoa, that's it. You did it.
When you see something like this happen, something that is
(19:22):
so immediately, so obviously historic, it is hard not to
think of life's impermanence. How are you feeling emotional because
I watched it all happen, and I'm pretty sure it's
never going to happen again, So you know, what's a lunchtime?
(19:51):
Thank you for listening to Dodger Blue Dream. I'm Richard Parks.
The third Roger Blue Dream is written and produced by
(20:12):
me Richard Parks. Original music in this episode by Jonathan Snipes,
William Ryan Fritch, The Blasting Company, and by me. This
episode was story edited by Caitlin Esh Special thanks to
Elizabeth Parks Kibbie. If you like the show, please help
me spread the word today, give the show a rating,
(20:34):
post about it on social media, or turn on a friend.
Thank you very much for listening
Hello, my Dodger Blue Dreamers Richard. Here. It is Sunday afternoon,
September twenty eighth, as I record this, and the final
game of the season is in the books. What a
perfect way to cap off the twenty twenty five baseball season.
Kersh with five plus shutty seven strikeouts looked good in
(00:23):
the final regular season start of his Hall of Fame career.
Bulpin held the lead and put the cherry on top.
Sho he Otani did what only Show he Otani can do.
There's a high drive left ciner field that is gone.
(00:44):
His fifty fifth home run of the twenty twenty five
baseball season sets a new Dodgers franchise record, passing Show
Hey Otani, the very same who hit fifty four last year.
Myself and team DBD are hard work on the next
brand Spank and new canonical full length episode of DBD
(01:06):
schedule to come out on Friday of this week. But
in the meantime, speaking of Show Hey and record setting
home runs, we thought we'd play one from the vault
just to keep your beak wet till Friday. So this
is a rebroadcast all about Show Hey. Hope you enjoy
this DBD Classic Show Hey Otani, fifty to fifty Ichi bon.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Ititch time for Dodger baseball.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I'm recording myself because he could hit fifty right now.
Yesterday September nineteenth, twenty twenty four was a dream. Yeah,
let's watch. Let's start here with show Hey Otani on
the precipice of baseball history.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
One two, Oh Tommy Saxon Larey Bucks, one of the
game player, one of a curt season.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
So hey o Tommy, let's start the fifty sixty club.
He's done it, that thing that only he knows how
to do again, fifty home runs and fifty stolen bases
(02:36):
in the same season, the first baseball player in the
history of the game we've seen thirty thirty, forty forty
is cool too. A fifty to fifty. That's a new club,
and it is a club of one Ichi Bond And
who's on the list only the best baseball player that
the game may ever see. Show, Hey o, Tommy. And
(03:00):
it's not just that Shohy did this during what will
go down in history as perhaps the best offensive baseball
game ever played, one of the greatest displays of athletic
prowess ever yeah, so how did he do it? What
does it all mean? Why am I crying? Sitting on
my couch in the middle of the day, crying at
(03:22):
the TV scream. Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream, a documentary
about the Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty four baseball season,
made in real time as the season unfolds. I'm Richard
Parks the Third, I'm a writer, I make soundscapes, and
I love the Dodgers. Today's episode shohy Otani fifty to
(03:45):
fifty Itchy Bond. If you're looking for broad context about
how rare the combination of speed and power that we
see in Showy Is, check out our episodes. This is
almost forty forty and forty forty vision about show hay
(04:07):
Is becoming just the sixth player ever to go forty forty.
Today we're telling the story of the fifty to fifty game.
Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Chance at a winning trip and a chance to clinch
a postseason birth today with a win if you have
that guy right there, so Hey, we're talking to who
wants to.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Be going into the game. Yesterday, show Hey had forty
nine stolen bases and forty eight home runs. Two dingers
and just one swipe away from that magic number or
numbers fifty to fifty. And even though we've become accustomed
to expecting the impossible, when it comes to Show Hey,
(04:47):
two homers in a game is a lot, and combining
that with a steal suffice it to say that I
was tempering my excitement. Humbly. I prayed for a Dodger win,
because with a win, the Boys in Blue would clinch
their twelfth consecutive postseason.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Never been to the playoffs, eight hundred and sixty five games.
That will change, Marlins.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Give the ball to and for Show Hey, it would
be his first postseason ever. In fact, going into this game,
Show Hay had played in more games than any other
big leaguer without getting to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Show. Of course, I'll lead off the lineup for Dave
Roberts today.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
First inning, Show Hay leading off, getting closer and closer
to a big league mile.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
All ho Tonni smokes the squat a right center field
off the.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
A rocket off the center field wall that missed going
out by just a couple feet to start this fall again,
and in the blink of an eye, Show Hay was
on second Tol him base for show Hey, Oh, Johnny
not only would be number fifty if he gets the third,
he's picking the bag up.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I'll bet that'd be kind of great. Lake Ricky Henderson
hold it over to a why in the room?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Show Hay is fast, but he's not the fastest base
ballplayer around. He's not even the fastest Dodger in terms
of sprint speed. He ranks fifth on the Dodgers squad
this year. This year, while he's rehabbing from elbow surgery,
Shohey decided to up the annie. Because he's not pitching,
he decided to focus on his running game instead. He
(06:19):
worked with Dodgers' training staff to develop a more explosive sprint.
And this is really the key. He's become obsessed with
studying opposing pitchers' moves and he's been able to roughly
double his previous high of stolen bases with smart base running.
Before this season, the most bases he had ever stolen
was twenty six, and here he was standing at second,
(06:43):
one stolen base away from fifty on the year.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
There they go.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
The Marlins catcher threw a bullet to the third baseman
who had the ball and glove well ahead of Otani slide.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Throw it a third beats it.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
But as show Hey got airborne, hurtling towards the dirt
in front of the bag, he extended his right leg
at an angle out towards the outfield toe tip up heel,
hitting the dirt on the outfield side of the bag,
and so the third baseman's mit had to come around
from the home plate side and rotate all the way
back around one hundred and eighty degrees to apply the tag.
(07:19):
How he got his done the fiftieth for Otani, fifty
stolen bases.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Gotta grab that base one that Altani touches for his
fiftieth stolen base.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And of course they get the base and authenticated. It's
probably gonna be in the Baseball Hall of Fame soon,
but in general, it's kind of an understated moment. First inning,
smart slide, tip of the cap, few extra high fives.
There's a baseball game to play, and Shohy was just
getting started.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Show Hey, who hit his forty eight home running Game one,
stole his forty ninth base in Game two, has stolen
his fiftieth base in Game three.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And it's one zero Dodgers. When show he comes up
again in the top of the second with two on.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
That that's a basic to right field. Otani's two for two.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And he felts one to right, knocking in Max Monthlys.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
He's got a stolen base, he's got a run scored,
he's got to run batted in, and this game's been
going for like twenty minutes now.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Show he's got a double and a single. That means
that he has a shot at hitting for the cycle.
He just needs a homer, which would be his forty ninth,
and of course the ever elusive triple.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It brings up Voltadi and sho.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Hey gets to bat again for the third time, already
in the top of the third inning with two on,
two wednings.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
He's got two hits, two stolen bases, are run scored,
and a run knocked in. Slashes his third head of
the game into the left center field gap, walks into score.
Here comes patez Otani heading for third plight in time.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But show Hey gets thrown out trying to stretch it
into a triple, making the third out at third base.
So much for the cycle. He doesn't come up again
until the sixth inning, with one man on and the
Dodgers up seven to three.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
To get Oti back to the plate. Three for three
through three innings.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Today, this is where things kind of take a turn.
No Dodger in the history of the Dodgers has ever
hit fifty home runs. The closest anybody ever came was
in two thousand and one. Sean Green hit forty nine
that year, and it is a franchise record that has
stood for twenty three years now. So as shohe stands
(09:42):
at the plate in the sixth inning, with one man
on and the Dodgers up seven to three, he has
a chance to give his team some insurance runs, and
he has a chance to tie an all time Dodger
record for home runs in a single season. And what
do you think he does?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Sounds one of the air page right field.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
He's had a world of his own. It's a two
run homer. The Dodgers lead at nine to three. Shaw
hell Ty.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Is now tied for the all time Dodgers single season
home run record with forty nine.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
This gargantuan home run, hit very hard and very high
and way up into the upper deck in right field,
gave me the distinct sensation that something special was going
on all right. He just hit his forty ninth home run,
and it was way gone. As I pumped my fist
with excitement, I knew we were gonna win this game.
(10:42):
My goodness, we're going to the postseason. Wow. But as
I kept pumping my fist, I realized, Holy sh it's
just the sixth inning. If he comes up again, he
could go fifty to fifty. He's not just going to
win the game for the team and get us to
(11:04):
the postseason. I think he's going to do it today.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Three runs driven in good. Here we go here, he comments.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
And as luck would have it, show Hay came up
to hit again the following inning, the top of the seventh.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
He's matched the franchise record for a single season with
forty nine. He's won away from the first fifty to
fifty season.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Ever, there were runners on second and third, which posed
an interesting question should the Marlins walk show Hay to
put him on first base and create a force out opportunity.
The TV cameras showed a close up of Skip Shoemaker,
the Marlins manager, that he says, I've got too much
(11:50):
respect for the guy, or maybe he said I've got
too much respect for the game. Either way, the point
had been made clearly. They were going to pitch to
show Hey, We're going to try to get him out,
but they were going to let him play the game,
which meant, for the first time ever, he had a
chance to hit his fiftieth home run. Michael Bauman is
(12:12):
on the mound for the Marlins. He winds up and
deals a slow knuckle curveball at eighty eight miles per hour.
Show Hey takes a massive cut and swings straight through it.
Strike one second pitch, four seam fastball up in the
zone at ninety six. Another huge cut, this time, show
(12:35):
Hey fouls it off. It's zero to two. Third pitch
knuckle curve at eighty seven, all the way to the
backstop and a run comes in. But frankly, I'm not
watching the scoreboard on Auman looks in, gets the sign
(12:55):
come set, kicks and deals another knuckle curve. This one
floats out over the plate and up into the zone.
Time slowed down and even seemed to pause. I felt
the earth spin on its axis, and the crazy vibes
(13:17):
from the Fallpark in Miami felt like they were being
piped straight into my living room.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Low Time Sex one of the air the other way,
fucking gos won of a Cauren Blair won of achin season.
So hell, time starts to fifty fifty o'clock.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
In those knotty feeling moments in which I had allowed
myself to dream that shohe would reach fifty to fifty
this year, I thought about him hitting it at home,
maybe in a high stake situation, winning the ball game
with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and
the bases loaded, like he did for forty forty. But
you know what, the way he got to fifty to
(14:11):
fifty in Miami was perfect. He hit that knuckle curve
off the end of his bat. It was the type
of swing and connection that normally wouldn't generate a home run.
But because it's Show Hay and he swings so hard
and he's so strong, the ball just acts different. That's
like a classic Show Hey home run. It's like a
(14:32):
hit that wouldn't go out, except because of how strong
he is and how hard he hits the ball, it
goes out. And now I'm going to play some audio
from a fan camera, a person who had a front
row seat to where the ball landed and the bedlam
that ensued once it did.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, my god,
my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
After swinging that mighty blow, sho Hay took a moment
to make sure that the ball was going out, and
he turned around to fire up his teammates with a yell,
tossing the bat at side before running to first, crying
out with elation, big hugs from Kiky Hernandez and Miguel Rojas,
an energetic sunflower seed shower from Tascar Hernandez and embraced
(15:22):
from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, and high fives from everybody.
The crowd in Miami was small. The Marlins are a
last place team, but the stadium got so loud that
Shohey had to come out for a curtain call. As
a visiting ballplayer who had just single handedly guaranteed the
defeat of the hometown team, even a Marlins fan could
(15:43):
appreciate what they had just witnessed.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
He achieved history with a one day rampage September nineteenth,
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Officials from Major League Baseball came into the dugout to
collect all of sho Hay's gear and authenticate it. His
batting gloves, his cleats, which were illustrated with an image
of his beloved dog decoy, the armor that he wears
when he goes to the plate on his pitching arm,
and I get it. All this stuff belongs in a
museum for posterity. But also my first thought at the
(16:16):
time was aren't we a little superstitious about this wardrobe change,
new batting gloves. I mean, I don't think he should
change out of that outfit that he was wearing ever,
But whatever history has been made, the games in the bag,
the Dodgers are going to the postseason. Showhy is going
to get to play October baseball for the first time
in his career, and he did it almost single handedly.
(16:38):
He was already five for five with seven RBIs. It
didn't feel like it was possible to dream any bigger.
And in the ninth inning, with the score fourteen to three,
at least a couple guys would have to get on
in order for show Hay to come up.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Now, Oh, Tony waits on deck, Taylor's got to reach.
Let's go do it for the people. They did, Yes,
and we will see show hey Oltani one more time
today and guess what happened? We all are watching this guy.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I guess, so Tony the greatest day as history fifty one.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Home runs or show hey, old Tony.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Another home run, just a towering blast, a good ten
rows above where anybody was seated in the upper deck
and right field. And with that, show Hey dropped the
mic and the bat. Fifty to fifty is so seventh inning.
The new hot club in town is fifty one fifty one.
(17:50):
Show Hey finished the day six for six, three home runs,
two doubles, He almost hit for the cycle, he had
two stolen bases, and he drove in ten runs by himself.
Immediately the buzz started. This might have been the best
individual performance in a baseball game in history, and he
(18:15):
did it in a game that guaranteed him and his
team would play in the postseason. With this clutch performance
in such an important game late in the season and
the creation of the fifty to fifty club for the
first time ever, it's pretty much guaranteed Shohei o Tani
will be the National League Most Valuable Player for twenty
(18:36):
twenty four. In Japanese, ichibon means number one, but it
also means first and also best. I'm recording myself because
he could hit fifty right now. Yeah, let's watch. I'm
(18:59):
gonna end by playing this. Whoa, that's it. You did it.
When you see something like this happen, something that is
(19:22):
so immediately, so obviously historic, it is hard not to
think of life's impermanence. How are you feeling emotional because
I watched it all happen, and I'm pretty sure it's
never going to happen again, So you know, what's a lunchtime?
(19:51):
Thank you for listening to Dodger Blue Dream. I'm Richard Parks.
The third Roger Blue Dream is written and produced by
(20:12):
me Richard Parks. Original music in this episode by Jonathan Snipes,
William Ryan Fritch, The Blasting Company, and by me. This
episode was story edited by Caitlin Esh Special thanks to
Elizabeth Parks Kibbie. If you like the show, please help
me spread the word today, give the show a rating,
(20:34):
post about it on social media, or turn on a friend.
Thank you very much for listening
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