Shohei Ohtani reached base safely again Tuesday, extending his 53-game streak and setting up a chance to take sole possession of the Los Angeles Dodgers record Wednesday, a night when he’ll also take the mound as starting pitcher.
Ohtani outran the throw to first base for an infield single in the seventh inning and tied Shawn Green for the second-longest such streak in team history.
Given that the franchise record-holder is Duke Snider, who reached base in 58 straight games in 1954, Ohtani and Green jointly hold the record for the Dodgers’ time in Los Angeles, which began ahead of the 1958 season.
As Dodgers Nation’s Nelson Espinal pointed out, Ohtani’s streak continues only because of “hustle,” as he was otherwise held hitless and was not walked.
Shohei Ohtani is tied for No. 2 in Dodger history with a 53 game on-base streak.Ohtani beat out a throw for an infield single, all hustle.He matches Shawn Green in the history books, who achieved his back in 2000.He is 5 games back from Duke Snyder. pic.twitter.com/AWQlTwwrC4
Wednesday night, Ohtani has a chance to take sole possession of the Los Angeles Dodgers record and second place in franchise history.
And he’ll do it while also serving as starting pitcher. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m.
If Ohtani’s streak were to end Wednesday, he’d still have made some impressive history.
He holds the record for longest on-base streak by a Japanese player, passing the Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, and earlier this week, he passed the mythic player to whom he’s most often compared: Babe Ruth, who got on base in 51 straight games in 1923.
If Ohtani continues to get on base, he would tie Snider’s record Sunday against the Chicago Cubs and break it Monday night against the Miami Marlins.
Unlike Tuesday night’s game in San Francisco, Ohtani would be at home for those potential history-making moments.
The MLB record is a much more daunting prospect, though passing Snider at 58 — and the Texas Rangers’ Will Clark, who’s tied with him — would put Ohtani on the cusp of joining some very impressive names.
At 60 games is Jim Thome, then Mark McGwire at 61 and Orlando Cabrera at 63.
Ted Williams has a streak of 73 consecutive games getting on base, topped by Joe DiMaggio at 74.
The only player to best DiMaggio was actually Williams again at 84, a feat he accomplished seven and a half years after his 73-game streak.