Photo: Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani Unveils Cleats Honoring Dog for MLB Players' Weekend
August 16, 2024
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani will rock some unique cleats this weekend.
With Players' Weekend giving MLB stars a chance to display their personalities and styles with custom-made bats and cleats, Ohtani made sure he displayed someone near and dear to him.
As the Dodgers face the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, Ohtani will wear custom New Balance cleats inspired by his dog, Decoy.
New Balance recently released Ohtani's first signature shoe—the Ohtani 1—which are the cleats featured in his Players' Weekend customs. While his signature cleats are available for purchase, the ones featuring Decoy are likely one-of-one.
Ohtani will look to continue his magical season while wearing his custom cleats against the Cardinals this weekend. The star has 37 homers, 86 RBI and a .294 batting average through 119 games and is nearing career highs in several categories.
Ohtani is also close to becoming just the sixth player in MLB history to have both 40 home runs and 40 steals in a season. He has 35 steals this year, which has far exceeded his previous career-high of 26 steals.
Should he reach the 40 mark in homers and steals, he would join a club that consists of Jose Conseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano and Ronald Acuña Jr., who did it last year.
Ohtani and the Dodgers will also look to hold their spot at the top of the NL West this weekend as a pair of teams threaten to pass them in the standings. They currently have the lead at 71-51 on the year, but lead the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres by just two games.
