Photo: Megan Briggs
Rob and Kelvin react to Shohei Ohtani hitting his 50th home run of the season, becoming the first player in MLB history to ever hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. While Rob thinks changes to baseball's rules over the years have ultimately invalidated most steal records going forward, Kelvin implores him to step back and enjoy greatness as it happens.
Rob Parker: "Let's call it what it is... Shohei's 50/50 is fugazi! It's not real! The bases are too big! He's sliding into pizza boxes at second base. They're closer at first and closer at second [than ever before]. That's why nobody's ever had 50/50, because [the bases are closer]! Imagine if Ricky Henderson had [these bases]... He might've had 200 stolen bases!... It's not that he isn't a great player; all I'm saying is this 50/50 is tainted and fugazi."
Kelvin Washington: "He's coming off injury and he's doing something no one else has ever done! I'll give you the bases thing... it gives him an advantage, but it gives that same advantage to all the other thousands of people in baseball, and he's still the only one doing it!"