On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of $700 million?

Jul 15, 2025

On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of 700 million?
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani is waiting for his first at-bat in the top of the first inning against the San Francisco Giants on the 14th (Korea time). AP Yonhap News



On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of 700 million?
오타니 쇼헤이. AFP Yonhap News
With the first-half race ending on the 14th (Korea time), it is expected that a milestone will be written in Major League history this season.

This is because five home run hitters set the first record in history in the first half.

They include Seattle Mariners Carl Raleigh (38), who ranks first in home runs in both leagues, New York Yankees Aaron Judge (35), Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani (32), Arizona Diamondbacks Eugenio Suarez (31), and Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber (30). Never in Major League history have five players hit more than 30 home runs in the first half.




The previous record of 30 home run hitters in the first half was four, one in 1998. That year, Mark McGuire (St. Louis, 37), Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle, 35), Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs, 33), and Greg Vaughan (San Diego, 30) hit more than 30 home runs and had an All-Star break. However, they hit more than 50 home runs side by side that year, setting a record for the most 50 home runs hitters in a season.

Maguire hit 70 home runs to set the record for the most home runs in a major league season at the time, and Sosa, who competed with him until the end of the season, ended up with 66 home runs. Griffey Jr. won the AL home run title with 56 homers, and Vaughan put the flag on the 50-homer mark for the first and last time in his career.

On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of 700 million?
New York Yankees Aaron Judge. ImagesYonhap News
Since then, the record of 50 home runs by four players in one season has come out once more. It's 2001. That year, Barry Bonds (San Francisco, 73), Sosa (64), Alex Rodriguez (Texas, 52), and Luis Gonzalez (Arizona, 57) formed a group of 50 home runs. However, the late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by the "steroid scandal".




For this reason, if Raleigh, Judge, Ohtani, Suarez, and Schwarber continue their momentum in the first half of the year and achieve 50 home runs in the second half, their value will inevitably shine even more.

Based on the number of team games, Raleigh will hit 64 home runs, Judge 59 home runs, Ohtani 53 home runs, Suarez 52 home runs, and Schwarber 51 home runs. This is an arithmetic prospect to the end.

As a result, it is expected that the competition for the home run title will be more interesting in the second half of the year. While Raleigh has continued to drive since late June, setting the AL record for the most home runs in the first half of the year, Judge and Ohtani, the home run king of both leagues last year, are also not slowing down this season. On top of that, Suarez and Schwarber recently heated up the cannon and pressured NL leader Ohtani.




Looking at the number of home runs in July, Raleigh, Judge, Suarez, and Schwarber hit five the same. Ohtani only added three in July. It can be analyzed that the batting is affected as he begins to take the mound as a pitcher. In fact, Ohtani had no hits in five of the 12 games in July, and his monthly batting average was only 0.186 (8 hits in 43 times at bat).

On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of 700 million?
Shohei Otani started against San Francisco on the 13th (Korea time) and is sending a signal toward home plate during pitching in the first inning. ImagesYonhap News
However, Ohtani hit more than 30 home runs in the first half of the year when he was writing the myth of a combined pitching and hitting in 2021 and 2023 when he was with the Los Angeles Angels. It was the third time this year that he hit 30 home runs in the first half. If Ohtani shrugs off the pursuit of Suarez and Schwarber and wins the NL home run title, he will set a milestone of becoming the home run king for the third consecutive year.

For the third consecutive year in ML history, there are only four home run kings: Harmon Killiebrew (Minnesota Twins, 1962-1964), Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia, 1974-1976), Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle, 1997-1999), and Alex Rodriguez (Texas Rangers, 2001-2003). However, Ohtani's third consecutive home run king has a different historical significance. This is because 2023 and this year are both pitching and playing seasons.

In 2013, when Baltimore Orioles Chris Davis hit 37 home runs in the first half to set the AL record at the time, he rejoiced, saying, `Obviously, it's a proud record for me.' This is because he matched the record set by Oakland Athletics Reggie Jackson in 1969 in the first half of the AL. Jackson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993 as a legendary gunner who was called Mr. Okotober.

On the road, he was transported by a private bed plane, and Ohtani became the home run king for the third consecutive year, with a combined physical management pitching and hitting of 700 million?
Shohei Ohtani, a pitcher during his time with the Los Angeles Angels. AP Yonhap News
SportsNetLA caster Joe Davis said during a broadcast between the Dodgers and the Houston Astros on the 7th that `Otani recently started using a special bed. It is a bed made from a special mattress for Ohtani by a company in Japan. Thanks to this, Ohtani is sleeping very well. They also carry beds in the large cargo compartment of the team's plane during away games. But I think it's a foldable bed. I need two employees because it's a very important bed. Overall, it is a full-size mattress. A truck to load the players is coming, and there is a separate truck to load Ohtani's bed."

Ohtani also used a special bed during his time with the Los Angeles Angels. It's the same after the Dodgers transfer, but since having their first child in April, they have to sleep well to be good at baseball" seems to have ordered a new bed like "Sleepy".

In the second half of the year, physical fitness management becomes more important as pitching innings need to be increased further. The home run competition is also an important issue.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.