Total bases is not a statistic mentioned often. Accumulating 400 in a season doesn’t have the panache of, say, batting .400.
Leave it to Shohei Ohtani to reach another rare milestone and prompt statisticians to dive back into the digital record books. He became the first player in 23 years and only 19th in baseball history to reach 400 total bases Thursday when the Dodgers clinched the National League West title and added 11 more over the last three games of the regular season to finish with 411.
So, are total bases meaningful?
Bill James, the godfather of modern baseball analytics, thought so. He included the stat in the seminal Runs Created formula he devised in the 1970s, which simply counts times on base, multiplied by bases advanced, divided by opportunities.
Bases advanced, in a nutshell, are total bases: a single counts as one, a double as two, a triple as three and a home run as four. Attaining 400 total bases reflects uncommon power and relentless offensive production.
Ohtani reached the milestone with his last hit Thursday, a bloop double in the eighth inning of a 7-2 victory over the San Diego Padres. He became the first player to reach 400 since four players did so during the steroids-fueled offensive binge of 2001.
A high school senior filed a lawsuit claiming he’s the rightful owner of the 50-50 home run ball hit by Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. The ball will be up for auction, starting at $500,000.
Ohtani didn’t stop at 400. He added eight total bases Friday, two Saturday and one Sunday in the Dodgers’ sweep over the Colorado Rockies. The 18 previous players to reach 400 achieved it 29 times among them and Ohtani’s total is a tie for No. 16 with Barry Bonds’ 411 total bases in 2001.
Four hundred total bases was a relatively frequent occurrence in the 1920s and 1930s after a livelier baseball was introduced, then was rarely attained until the steroids era.
Babe Ruth set the record of 457 in 1921 and accumulated 417 in 1927, the year he hit 60 home runs. Lou Gehrig eclipsed 400 a record five times, and fellow Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Chuck Klein and Rogers Hornsby each accomplished it twice.
The milestone was rarely reached thereafter. Stan Musial was the only player to reach 400 in the 1940s and Henry Aaron the only player in the 1950s. Jim Rice posted 405 total bases in 1978 and Larry Walker, playing home games in the thin air of Coors Field, had 409 in 1997.
Walker’s teammate with the Rockies, Todd Helton, twice eclipsed 400, as did Sammy Sosa. Helton, Sosa, Bonds and Luis Gonzalez all cracked 400 in 2001, and nobody else did so until Ohtani. Aaron Judge stalled out after hitting his 58th home run Thursday to reach 392, one more total base than he finished with in 2022.
Shohei Ohtani went into a trance-like state while leading the Dodgers to a division title. His skills could carry them to a World Series victory.
Ohtani has already set records in his first season as a Dodger, becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. He finished with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases to go with a .310 batting average, 197 hits and NL-leading totals of 130 runs batted in, 134 runs scored, a .390 on-base percentage and a .646 slugging percentage.
He’s delivered when the Dodgers needed it most as they fended off a surge by the Padres the last few weeks. In his last 10 went 27 for 43 — including six home runs and six doubles — with 20 RBIs, 16 runs and 10 stolen bases.
Remaining that hot for so long enabled Ohtani to chase the first NL triple crown since Joe Medwick in 1937. However, he finished second in batting average to the Padres’ Luis Arráez, who hit .314.
As onlookers marvel at Ohtani’s staggering accomplishments, it’s easy to overlook his joining a 400 total bases club that is more exclusive than that of pitchers who have thrown a perfect game (24 members).
Dodgers team physician Neal ElAttrache told The Times he would prefer Shohei Ohtani’s pitching velocity stay under 90 mph for the moment but that it has crept up to 93.
Ohtani has a lot of climbing to ascend to the top of the total bases career list. He has 1,792 after posting four consecutive seasons with more than 300, but the all-time record is a daunting 6,856 by Aaron.
Who among active players has the most total bases? Ohtani doesn’t have to look far. It’s his teammate, Freddie Freeman, with 3,866. The veteran first baseman has eclipsed 300 total bases six times and his career high is 361, set last season.
Single-season total base leaders
Name, total bases, year
1. Babe Ruth, 457, 1921
2. Rogers Hornsby, 450, 1922
3. Lou Gehrig, 447, 1927
4. Chuck Klein, 445, 1930
5. Jimmy Foxx, 438, 1932
6. Stan Musial, 429, 1948
7. Sammy Sosa, 425, 2001
8. Hack Wilson, 423, 1930
9. Chuck Klein, 420, 1932
10. Lou Gehrig, 419, 1930
10. Luis Gonzalez, 419, 2001
12. Joe DiMaggio, 418, 1937
13. Babe Ruth, 417, 1927
14. Babe Herman, 416, 1930
14. Sammy Sosa, 416, 1998
16. Barry Bonds, 411, 2001
16. Shohei Ohtani, 411, 2024
18. Lou Gehrig, 410, 1931
19. Lou Gehrig, 409, 1934
19. Rogers Hornsby, 409, 1929
19. Larry Walker, 409, 1997
22. Joe Medwick, 406, 1937
22. Jim Rice, 406, 1978
24. Todd Helton, 405, 2000
24. Chuck Klein, 405, 929
24. Hal Trosky, 405, 1936
27. Jimmy Foxx, 403, 1933
27. Lou Gehrig, 403, 1936
29. Todd Helton, 402, 2001
30. Hank Aaron, 400, 1959
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