New York (AFP) – Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers to a second straight World Series title, won his fourth Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award on Thursday. Japan’s Ohtani won his second straight National League MVP for the Dodgers. In 2023, he won the American League MVP with the Los Angeles Angels — to pair with his first for that team in 2021. He and slugger Barry Bonds are now the only two players with at least four MVP awards. Bonds tops the all-time list with seven MVPs between 1990 and 2004.
The American League MVP honors went to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the second year in a row, over the big-hitting Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber finished second in the NL voting and the New York Mets’ Juan Soto was third. “It’s truly an honor,” Ohtani said on the televised announcement of the awards. “Before I say that, I wanted to just give a big shout out to Juan Soto and Schwarber — they had amazing seasons, as well. They helped bring the best out of me in competition.”
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Ohtani, 31, had already joined Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP awards in both the American and National Leagues — and now he’s the only player with multiple MVPs in each league. He also joined Bonds as the only players to win three MVPs in a row and is just the second player to win back-to-back MVPs and consecutive World Series titles in the same years, joining Joe Morgan of the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds. “The biggest thing is obviously being able to win the World Series. That’s first and foremost,” Ohtani said. “It’s icing on the cake just to be able to get an individual award, being crowned MVP.” But I really want to appreciate the support from all my teammates, everybody around me and my supporting staff,” he added.
Ohtani’s latest MVP campaign looked decidedly different from his historic 2024 season — when he became the founding member of MLB’s 50-50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, delivering offensively as he continued to recover from elbow ligament surgery that kept him off the pitcher’s mound. In June of this year, Ohtani returned to the mound for the first time in almost two years. The Dodgers strictly limited his innings and pitch counts, but he went 1-1 with a 2.87 earned-run-average (ERA) over 14 starts, striking out 62 with just nine walks. Ohtani also continued to deliver at the plate, belting 55 home runs — second only to Schwarber’s 56 in the National League.
Japan has revelled in Ohtani’s exploits, and Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Minoru Kihara welcomed his latest accolade. “It’s good news,” Kihara said. “We heartily congratulate Shohei Ohtani on being unanimously voted MVP of the National League… Ohtani made a big contribution to the Dodgers’ second straight title with his hard work, sacrifice and teamwork. We truly hope that Ohtani can flourish in the years to come and that his efforts inspire children and young people in Japan to play sport and give a boost to sport in general.”
– Judge wins tight race –
While Ohtani’s two-way prowess left little doubt as to the NL MVP, the American League race evolved into an intriguing duel between Judge and Raleigh. Judge belted 53 home runs and led the major leagues with a .331 batting average. He led the American League in runs, total bases, walks, and extra-base hits. The towering slugger claimed a third MVP award to go with those earned last year and in 2022. It’s the first time that both MVPs from one year repeated the next. Judge received 17 first-place votes while Raleigh garnered 13. Raleigh broke a stream of home run records on the way to finishing with a Major League-leading 60 — the most by a catcher, a switch-hitter, and a Mariner. He played in all but three games to help the Mariners claim their first AL West division title since 2001, delivering an AL-leading 125 runs-batted-in with a career-best batting average of .247.
© 2024 AFP
