Shohei Ohtani ends his season by dismantling the entire concept of the decimal system

The collective bargaining agreement about what to do after catching a historic baseball is extremely fiscally responsible, like a financial education course called “So You Just Won the Lottery.” The man who caught Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 home run ball got full marks: He rejected an initial offer – reportedly $300,000 – from the Dodgers and contacted the Goldin auction house the next day. With the current high bid for the ball at $1.2 million and more than 16 days remaining, it was a pragmatic and well-executed, if unsentimental, decision. Because the seller wanted to remain anonymous, the ESPN article about the auction instead quotes Goldin's CEO and founder, Ken Goldin, and Goldin uses the opportunity to engage in uncensored self-promotion: “This is one of those cases where our reputation is lost gone.” achieve the absolute highest price for highly sought-after items [came] into the game… honestly we had no competition at all.

This is not a moral judgment on the man who caught Ohtani's baseball. Imagine being so prepared if a house fell into your lap; Coincidence would be a beautiful thing. Ultimately, any piece of sports memorabilia is about owning it or selling it, and owning a baseball worth Ohtani is synonymous with extreme wealth.

This explains why another fan filed a civil lawsuit to have the auction stopped, claiming he had originally owned the baseball in a fight over it; Perhaps the courts should take this opportunity to determine what constitutes a catch in the outfield stands. All of this financial and procedural effort is spent on a baseball that, according to the photo on Goldin's website, is, well, a baseball, with a few crucial details. There is a scuff mark extending from the top of the Rawlings logo to where the seams are closest together, minor stains on both sides, and an MLB authentication sticker.

Of course, no one is bidding on baseball being a work of art to behold. The Value of Baseball is a representation of the circumstances: That Ohtani opened the 50/50 club in one of the greatest single-game performances of all time is part of it, but he also did the kindness of stealing the base before slamming the home run. In the hypothesis that events were reversed, it is difficult to imagine that baseball would have the same value. Some measure of retroactive glory would no doubt carry over, but it would be 50/49 baseball, and a fan can't auction off a stolen base.

It is a peculiarity of the all-encompassing decimal system that 50/50 plays a role as a measurement at all. Ohtani broke the previous home runs/steals record with 43/43, but with that achieved, the next goal was 50/50. Every matching sentence he recorded since then had the same mathematical value. But it can't be helped: thanks to evolution stumbling into 10 fingers, these groupings are given disproportionate weight. Since 43/43 the goal for the audience has always been 50/50.

The way Shohei Ohtani plays baseball gives the impression that he is the only person on the planet who is free from this mindset. He has proven time and time again that human conventions simply don't apply; Even though that could make a baseball he hit worth $1.2 million or more, it can't hurt him.

What Ohtani has achieved since his 50/50 is as impressive as the lead up to that success. In the same game he scored 51/51. From that game through the end of the season, he slashed .628/.667/1.186 in 48 plate appearances. That's 27 hits in 43 at-bats. To be on the safe side, he hit three more home runs after the historic game. He stole seven more bases because he decided he could – just as he apparently decided to try for 50 steals midway through the season – and broke Ichiro Suzuki's record for most steals by a Japanese baseball player. His post-50/50 run includes one unprecedented eight-game stretch of hitting. For a split second, it almost looked like he might steal the batting title from Luis Arráez and secure his first triple crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012. In the end, he cooled down enough to finish second, but he even had the analysis nerds I care about the batting average.

Not long ago, there was at least an argument for a position adjustment in WAR that Francisco Lindor was a worthy MVP candidate alongside Ohtani. However, even back then there was a tacit agreement that Lindor would have to accept his WAR crown as a consolation prize as long as Ohtani broke 50/50. But Ohtani leaves no doubt; His game does not depend on the circumstances. Despite everything going on outside, Shohei Ohtani will be busy playing baseball.