Ohtani achieves another rare feat: 400 total bases

Shohei Ohtani's incredible 2024 season keeps getting more remarkable. With the founding of the 50-50 club already in his rear-view mirror, Ohtani has added one more bit of amazement to his ledger by joining another exclusive group: players with 400 total bases in a season.

How rare is that? There have been 19 players in MLB history to reach 400 total bases in a season, and it's only happened 30 times since 1900. Before Ohtani joined the club, it hadn’t happened since 2001, when Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Todd Helton and Luis Gonzalez all reached the mark. Before that, it hadn't happened since Jim Rice did it in 1978. This year, it's not just Ohtani -- who joined the club with a double in the eighth inning on Thursday -- in the 400 total bases conversation. Aaron Judge, who's flirting with another 60-homer season, could also get there with a strong showing in the Yankees' final three games. He's at 392 after hitting his 58th homer on Thursday.

To reach 400 total bases, a player needs an exceptional mix of average and slugging. But even then, it's hard to do. A slump of any significance can extinguish the quest if not met with a similarly robust hot streak on the other side. Elite consistency is the key.

One way to appreciate the historic nature of 400 total bases is to consider some of the all-time-great sluggers who never reached that total in a season. Ted Williams (career high: 368), Mickey Mantle (376), Willie Mays (382), Ken Griffey Jr. (393), Albert Pujols (394) and Miguel Cabrera (377) weren't able to get there. Mike Trout has never had more than 339.

As rare baseball accomplishments go, this is a club akin to the Perfect Game club (24 members) or the Four Homers in a Game club (18 members). Like those clubs, the 400 Total Bases club requires a dominant performance from a player. But unlike those other clubs, that performance is not limited to just one game, but spread out over an entire season.

Here's a look at the players to reach 400 total bases in a season.

2002 to present (one, so far)

The emergence of many well-rounded hitters during the first three decades of the 21st century would seem to create the ideal condition for the pursuit of 400 total bases, yet the equal abundance of hard-throwing pitchers with nasty breaking pitches has made the quest quite difficult. Before Ohtani, the closest anyone had come to 400 total bases in a season was Albert Pujols, who had 394 in 2003.

Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, 2024 (400 and counting)

Ohtani's chase of 400 total bases really picked up in September. He ended August with 329 and was on pace for 392. Then he really caught fire. Since Sept. 1, he's hit .364 with an OPS of 1.201. Ohtani's performance was punctuated by his 6-for-6 showing against the Marlins on Sept. 19, when he clubbed three homers to go along with two doubles and a single. Those 17 total bases catapulted him into the MLB lead and super-charged the quest for 400. Since that day, he's averaged nearly four bases per game.

1997-2001 (Five players, seven total seasons)

The offense-rich PED Era led to a mini-explosion of players to reach 400 total bases, highlighted by four entries in 2001 -- the most in one season since four did it in 1930. A second round of expansion in the '90s also created pitching environments that were conducive to higher levels of offense.

Barry Bonds, Giants, 2001 (411)

Bonds reached the total in 2001 almost exclusively on the strength of his MLB-record 73 homers. In fact, his other hit totals -- 32 doubles, two triples and 49 singles -- were rather ordinary. But then, any hit for Bonds that season was impressive, given that nobody wanted to give him anything good to hit, which led to 177 walks.

Luis Gonzalez, D-backs, 2001 (419)

Gonzalez fueled his gaudy base total in 2001 with a career-high 57 homers that matched nicely with 36 doubles, seven triples and 98 singles. Like Helton at Coors Field, Gonzalez benefited from a spacious ballpark in Arizona that provides plenty of ground for extra-base hits.

Todd Helton, Rockies, 2000 (405) and 2001 (402)

Helton is an example of a player who seemingly reached 400 total bases with as much help from doubles as homers. Thanks to the hitter-friendly conditions of Coors Field -- both the altitude and the expansive outfield dimensions -- Helton averaged 56 doubles from 2000-2001 to go along with an average of 46 homers.

Sammy Sosa, Cubs, 1998 (416) and 2001 (425)

Sosa's contribution to the 60-homer chase between him and Mark McGwire during the Long Gone Summer of 1998 carried the bulk of the load on his path to his first season of 400-plus total bases. He finished with 66 long balls, but had just 20 other extra-base hits (all doubles) to go along with 112 singles. In 2001, he exceeded his total bases from '98 thanks to 64 homers, 34 doubles and five triples.

Larry Walker, Rockies, 1997 (409)

Walker tallied 400 total bases on his way to the NL MVP Award. He hit .366 on the season with an NL-leading 49 homers and an MLB-leading 1.172 OPS. Along with all the homers, he had 46 doubles, four triples and 109 singles.

1979-1996 (none)

Despite plenty of big-name sluggers who either built or cemented Hall of Fame careers during this time -- Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Eddie Murray, and Andre Dawson among them -- the closest anyone came to 400 was Ellis Burks of the Rockies, who had 392 in 1996. The next-closest was Don Mattingly, who had 388 for the Yankees in 1986.

1960-1978 (one)

Pitching dominated for most of the '60s, so much so that MLB lowered the mound before the 1969 season to even things out for hitters. The highest number of bases anyone totaled during that decade was 382 by Willie Mays in 1962. Even Roger Maris during his historic 61-homer season in 1961 managed just 366. But by the mid-to-late '70s, the numbers began to climb again.

Jim Rice, Red Sox, 1978 (406)

Rice had a monster season in 1978, which led to a runaway AL MVP Award. The Boston star hit .315 with an MLB-best 46 homers and 139 RBIs that season, but he wouldn't have reached 400 total bases without his MLB-leading 15 triples. All told, he led all players with 213 hits.

1938-1959 (two)

War was perhaps the biggest reason why 400 total bases was a scarce achievement for more than two decades. World War II pulled some of the game's top sluggers into service, most notably Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio in their primes, and the Korean War did the same, though to a lesser overall effect.

Hank Aaron, Braves, 1959 (400)

Aaron had an MLB-best .355 average, 223 hits and 1.037 OPS in 1959. He clubbed 39 homers to go with 46 doubles, seven triples and 131 singles. It was the eighth time he led his league in total bases, but his only time reaching 400.

Stan Musial, Cardinals, 1948 (429)

Musial led all MLB hitters in hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18) and tied for the second-most homers (39). Naturally, his 429 total bases were tops in baseball.

1921-1937 (10 players, 19 total season)

The 1920s and '30s saw an offensive explosion, as Babe Ruth changed the game with a power swing that helped usher in a new era of baseball. But there were two other big factors that helped fuel the high number of players who reached 400 total bases, despite playing a 154-game season. First, many ballparks had smaller dimensions, with some left- or right-field walls being less than 300 feet from home plate. Second, it was pre-integration, meaning hitters weren't necessarily facing the most talented pitchers.

Joe DiMaggio, Yankees, 1937 (418)

DiMaggio's only time reaching or 400 or more total bases came in his second season, when he hit .346, led baseball with 46 homers and had a 1.085 OPS. He also had 35 doubles and 15 triples.

Joe Medwick, Cardinals, 1937 (406)

Medwick's bat dominated the NL in 1937 and blazed his path to an MVP Award. He led all NL hitters with a .374 average, a 1.056 OPS, 31 homers and 56 doubles, and his 237 overall hits were tops in MLB.

Lou Gehrig, Yankees, 1936 (403); 1934 (409); 1931 (410); 1930 (419); 1927 (447)

Like everyone else on this list, Gehrig was an extra-base-hit machine. During his five seasons with 400 or more total bases, he averaged 46 homers, 40 doubles and 13 triples. That'll do it.

Hal Trosky, Cleveland, 1936 (405)

Trosky's 405 total bases led all hitters, though he didn't lead the league in any extra-base hit category. Still, his 42 homers, 45 doubles, nine triples and 120 singles were more than enough for him to join the 400 club.

Jimmie Foxx, A's, 1933 (402) and 1932 (428)

Foxx's two seasons that gained him entry on this list also earned him back-to-back AL MVP Awards. From 1932-1933, Foxx hit a combined .360 and averaged 53 homers, 35 doubles, nine triples and 208 overall hits.

Chuck Klein, Phillies, 1932 (420); 1930 (445) and 1929 (405)

Though Klein had strong power numbers during his two seasons reaching 400 total bases — he hit 43 dingers in 1929, 40 in 1930 and 38 in 1932 — his journey to the mark was perhaps carried even more by an average of 51 doubles per season. His average of 10 triples didn't hurt, either.

Babe Herman, Dodgers, 1930 (416)

Herman had 241 hits in 1930 and had strong extra-base numbers (35 homers, 48 doubles, 11 triples), but he didn't lead the league in anything other than caught stealing (13).

Hack Wilson, Cubs, 1930 (423)

1930 was a big year for Wilson. He set the MLB record for most RBIs in a season (191) and also clubbed an MLB-best 56 homers, which pulled most of the weight to reach 400 total bases. But he also had 35 doubles, nine triples and 111 singles, which played strong supporting roles.

Rogers Hornsby, Cubs, 1929 (409); and Cardinals, 1922 (450)

Hornsby is the only player on this list to reach 400 or more total bases with multiple teams. And though he had plenty of extra-base hits — he had a career-high 42 homers in 1922 — he's in this club in large part because of his ability to hit singles, which made up nearly 60 percent of his hits during these two seasons. The 148 he hit in 1922 are the most singles in one season for anyone on this list.

Babe Ruth, Yankees, 1927 (417) and 1921 (457)

It's probably no surprise that Ruth was the first player in the Modern Era to reach 400 total bases in a season. After all, he was out-homering entire teams early in his career. But he only reached the mark twice, with both coming in his two highest home run years: 1921 (59 homers) and 1927 (60). In 1921, he even legged out 16 triples.