When Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate one home run away from MLB’s first 50-50 season, the Miami Marlins pitched him like it was any other game. The result was baseball history, and some pain for the Marlins.
Some speculated Miami might pitch around Ohtani rather than land themselves on highlight reels around the world, with the question apparently reaching Marlins manager Skip Schumaker in the dugout before Ohtani’s at-bat.
His answer was simple, and showed plenty of his character:
While not confirmed, one lip reader interpreted Schumaker’s full answer as “F*** that. I’ve got too much respect for this guy for that s*** to happen.”
Dodgers fans were certainly grateful to Schumaker when Ohtani hit his 50th homer of the season off Marlins reliever Mike Baumann and even more so when Ohtani homered again in the ninth inning off position-player pitcher Vidal Brujan. Ohtani finished his night 6-for-6 with three homers, two doubles, two stolen bases, four runs and 10 RBI, perhaps the greatest offensive day in the history of baseball that didn’t include a four-homer game.
The performance was part of a 20-4 slaughter by the Dodgers, which clinched a first career postseason appearance for Ohtani. If there were hard feelings about the lopsided nature of the game, Schumaker didn’t let them show.
The coach explained his decision to not walk Ohtani with reporters, then effusively praised the Japanese star as the most talented player he’s seen:
“That’s a bad move, baseball-wise, karma-wise, baseball-gods-wise. You go after him and see if you can get him out. I think out of respect for the game, we’re going to after him. He hit the home run, that’s just the deal. He’s hit 50 of them. He’s the most talented player I’ve ever seen. He is doing things I have never seen done before in the game and if he has a couple more of these peak years, he might be the best ever to play the game. As a fan, yeah, I wish I was in the stands, not in the dugout seeing it, but I’m proud the guys that were attacking him and not scared of him. That’s how you should go after it.
It was a good day for baseball. Bad day for the Marlins.
The Dodgers reportedly appreciated the decision from Schumaker.
With a 50-50 season — and a 51-51 season — now accomplished, Ohtani and the 91-62 Dodgers can focus on preparing for the playoffs, and securing a 12th NL West title in 13 years. Thursday’s win improved their division lead to four games over the San Diego Padres with nine to play.
