Total bases is not a statistic mentioned often. Accumulating 400 total bases in a season doesn’t have the panache of, say, batting .400.
Leave it to Shohei Ohtani to reach another rare milestone and prompt statisticians to dive back into the digital record books. He became the first player in 23 years and only 19th in baseball history to reach 400 total bases Thursday night when the Dodgers clinched the National League West title.
So, how meaningful are total bases?
Bill James, the godfather of modern baseball analytics, thought so.