Shohei Ohtani's early career with the Los Angeles Angels was summed up perfectly by a 2021 tweet about the fictitious "Tungsten Arm" O'Doyle. The premise of the joke being Ohtani was accomplishing obscure, but incredible feats that hadn't happened in a baseball game since the early days of the sport. And he was doing it alongside an equally impressive Mike Trout in relative obscurity with the Angels. Some wondered whether he could possibly do it on a big stage and earn the $700 million the Dodgers gave him in free agency in 2023.

It turns out the answer to that question is a resounding yes. In 2024 he hit a career-high 54 home runs and led baseball in runs scored, RBI, OBP, SLG and OPS as he won his third MVP in four seasons. Then he homered in his first career playoff game and played through injury to help the Dodgers win the World Series in his first season with the club.

This year he somehow got better. He hit a new career-high of 55 home runs and he started pitching again. He started Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, threw six shutout innings and struck out 10 batters and he hit three home runs. No one had ever done it before. No one will ever do it again.

What other "Tungsten Arm" O'Doyle-esque accomplishment could he possibly accomplish during this postseason?

Would you believe he reached base nine times in a single game?

That's exactly what Ohtani did in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series. He tied the all-time record for most times on base in a game in regular season or postseason play. No one had reached base nine times in one game since Stan Hack in 1942. Before that it was Johnny Burnett in 1932 and the first person to ever do it was Max Carey in 1922.

And no one has ever done it in the postseason. Or come close. No player has ever reached base more than six times in a single postseason game.

In fact, only 84 players had reached base five times in a single postseason game. And just three players had reached base six times, including Kenny Lofton in the 1995 World Series, Stan Hack in the 1945 World Series and Kerry Carpenter in the Tigers-Mariners 15-inning classic earlier this postseason.

Last night Ohtani reached nine times. Here's how he did it.

First Inning Double

Max Scherzer has won two World Series and three Cy Young awards. Ohtani ripped the second pitch he saw from him down the line for a ground-rule double. He would be stranded on second, but a historic night had begun.

Third Inning Home Run

The Dodgers had a 1-0 lead when Ohtani faced Scherzer in the third inning. Ohtani took a ball, swung at two strikes and then fouled off two more pitches before he hit his first home run of the night. He celebrated with an epic bat flip while Justin Bieber gave him a thumbs down.

Fifth Inning Double

The Blue Jays took a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning. Facing a full count in the bottom of the fifth Ohtani hit his second double of the game and drove in Enrique Hernández to cut the lead in half.

Seventh Inning Home Run

Down one with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Ohtani hit the first pitch he saw from Seranthony Dominguez into the stands to tie the game. It was his fourth extra base hit of the game which is something that hadn't been done in the postseason since 1906.

International Walking to History

After two doubles and two home runs the Blue Jays had finally had enough and started walking Ohtani. He was put on without seeing a pitch in the ninth, 11th, 13th and 15th before Brendon Little threw him four straight balls in the 17th.

A player had only reached base five times in a single postseason game 88 times in the history of baseball and he did it with walks from the ninth inning on last night after going 4-for-4.

There is no way to discuss this without admitting it makes no sense.

Aaron Judge led MLB in intentional walks this season with 36. Ohtani was walked four times in one postseason game.

Barry Bonds remains the gold standard for being intentionally walked with 688 in his career. He was intentionally walked a record 120 times in 2004. He was intentionally walked a total of 21 times in 48 career postseason games, including 13 times in the 2002 playoffs. The Angels walked him seven times in the World Series, including three times in Game 4.

Ohtani just got intentionally walked four times in extra innings.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani Set an Unbreakable Record: Here’s How He Reached Base 9 Times in Game 3.

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