Los Angeles, California - Japan reacted with pride on Friday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches his two-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the seventh inning at loanDepot Park.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami.
"We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart," top government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo.
"We sincerely hope Mr. Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further."
The landmark dominated Japanese morning news shows and social media. Newspapers rushed out special editions in Tokyo and elsewhere, including in Ohtani's hometown in the northern Iwate region.
"As a fellow Iwate native, I'm proud of him," one woman handed a special copy of the local paper told broadcaster NHK.
Social media users were similarly awe-struck.
"He is too incredible... truly superhuman," one wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The 30-year-old Ohtani capped a monster performance by adding another home run in the ninth inning, finishing the game with 51 homers and 51 steals so far this season.
Nicknamed "Sho-Time," he was a high-school baseball prodigy who signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2013 and spent five seasons there before joining the Los Angeles Angels. There, he won two American League Most Valuable Player awards in six seasons but left last year for free agency.
Following weeks of frenzied speculation, he joined the Dodgers in December. His 10-year, $700-million deal was the richest contract in the history of North American sport.
