Shohei Ohtani praises teammates after winning third MVP

LOS ANGELES: Shohei Ohtani praised his teammates after winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the third time in his career on Thursday.

Celebration season wasn’t done just yet for Ohtani. After leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to their second World Series win in the last four years, the Japanese superstar unanimously won the third MVP of his career and his first in the American League. He joins Frank Robinson, becoming the second player in Major League Baseball (MLB) history to win the award in both leagues, after previously winning MVP in the national league in both 2021 and 2023.

Ohtani’s stats for this past season were nothing short of ludicrous. He made history by becoming the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. Ohtani crushed 54 home runs, the most in the national league out of any player.

He was second in homers in the entire league, only behind Aaron Judge, who hit 58. Judge won the MVP this year as well, in Ohtani’s old stomping ground, the American League. Ohtani was third in wins above replacement (WAR) this year, just behind Bobby Witt Jr. and Judge.

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“Obviously if my teammates weren’t there, we didn’t play as a team, we would not have even got to the playoffs or won the World Series. So for me, again, I’m just taking this as, I’m representing the team receiving this award,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani has been dominating baseball since he joined the MLB in 2018, however he never managed to make the post season with his old team, the Los Angeles Angels. But, after receiving $700 million in what is the biggest Baseball contract in history by quite a margin, with the second highest going to his former teammate Mike Trout, Ohtani headed down the street to Los Angeles’ other team, the Dodgers.

And despite not being able to pitch as he was recovering from elbow surgery, Ohtani was worth every penny. He led the league in runs scored with 134, total bases with 411, and extra base hits with 99. The Japanese phenom had career bests in batting average with .310, runs batted in with 130, which was second in the league, and hits with 197.

Since he already knew he wouldn’t be able to pitch this season, it just made him focus more on his “offensive game”, Ohtani explained, adding “Fortunately, I was able to produce and get this award.”

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