...and Friday night (5/30), when the Dodgers hosted the Yankees in LA for what turned into an eerie echo of their last meeting (Game 5 of last year's World Series), Sho-time answered a first-inning homer from Aaron Judge and hit another later in the game as the Bronx Bombahs blew a 5-1 lead, winding up as 8-5 losers. (Judge hit two homers in today's game, but those were the only runs the Yankees managed in what quickly became a frightful rout, thanks in large part to a 7-RBI game from Max Muncy. Final score: Dodgers 18, Bombed-Out Bronxsters 2.)
BUT we digress...the two homers on Friday night made it exactly 15 in May for Ohtani, making him (as it says in the headline above...) into the 50th instance of this still-rare feat. He was also the 49th such "event", achieved in June 2023.
He is the first player to have adjacent events on the list since Mark McGwire did so in 1998-99. Of course, he's still behind Big Mac's total of five 15+ homer months, Babe Ruth's total of four, and Hank Greenberg's hat trick. (These can all be viewed at that May 20th blog post, along with the other sluggers to have two 15+ HR months, Rudy York, Albert Belle, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds.)
HERE is the updated list for the 21st-century portion of this (now) 50-strong 15+ homer in a month fraternity...
