'Superhuman': Japan in awe after Ohtani makes baseball history

Japan reacted with incredulity and pride on Friday (Sep 20) after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.

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 spokesman 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, US$700-million deal was the richest contract in the history of North American sport.