Was there really any doubt?
Certainly, the advertisers on Thursday’s MLB Network announcement of the Most Valuable Player awards didn’t think so. Ads featuring Shohei Ohtani were lined up to go right after the announcement of the National League MVP award. I’m sure there were fallback ads, but why would anyone think they were needed?
When Clayton Kershaw appeared on screen to announce the NL winner – after Derek Jeter had appeared to announce the Yankees’ Aaron Judge as the American League MVP – well, that was a further tipoff.
No, there should not have been any doubt. There certainly was none in the minds of the 30 National League voters, all of whom put Ohtani in the No. 1 slot, just as all 30 American League voters had Judge as their top choice.
Shohei made history with this honor, just as he made history with the first 50-homer, 50-stolen base season in baseball history. This marks a third unanimous MVP award for Ohtani, including consecutive years – one in each league – and the first ever awarded to a full-time DH. The commentators on the broadcast were already suggesting a Cy Young Award next year, when he returns to pitch, and why not? The possibilities seem endless.
There was, of course, a big difference between this one and the two MVPs Ohtani won as an Angel. Those who regularly read this column might remember that we place a particular premium on the “Valuable” part of “Most Valuable Player,” as in what a player did to help his team succeed including, and sometimes beyond, mere numbers.
With the Angels, who have become a downtrodden franchise, it became increasingly hard for that value to show.
With the Dodgers, who are accustomed to shooting for championships – and who won their second World Series in five seasons, and first full-season World Series since 1988 – Ohtani was not only a key factor but might have been the missing link for a team that kept falling short in October. This award is a regular-season award, of course, and the votes are due before the postseason begins, but Ohtani’s impact on this team and this clubhouse and this environment was evident well before October.
When he accepted the award he said he did so on behalf of the team. During the conference call with media members that followed the TV show he elaborated, saying it was special “because we were able to win the World Series. And so, you know, it’ll be a special moment that I’ll never forget, and just to be able to win the MVP as an individual as well.”
Then he said this, through interpreter Matt Hidaka: “I take it as a team effort, and this can just motivate me more to continue to help the team win again even next year. We would like to continue to try to win the World Series each year.”
He could say that as an Angel and hardly anyone could believe him. As a Dodger, at least it’s in the realm of possibility.
Maybe all of this goes back to mid-March in South Korea, where the Dodgers and San Diego Padres opened the season, and particularly the moments after news broke of revelations involving interpreter Ippei Mizuhara – what turned out to be an embezzlement scandal, and a betrayal of Ohtani’s trust. Under those circumstances and that media frenzy, Ohtani learned that the other guys in that clubhouse had his back, unequivocally.
“I don’t think that was on the script of how we started off this year,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said after Game 5 of the World Series, the clincher. “But I think sometimes when those things kind of happen, it just rallies a group of guys together. When you start supporting a teammate in his first year, like we did, for him to go out there and have the greatest season, I think, of all time, (it’s) pretty special.”
The other unexpected development: In June, Ohtani was elevated from No. 2 in the batting order to the leadoff spot when Mookie Betts suffered a broken bone in his hand. And when Betts came back, Ohtani stayed in the leadoff spot. He didn’t change his approach but talked of being more aggressive on the bases, and that had been part of his plan anyway since he wasn’t going to be pitching in 2024.
Consider, too: He’s the second player to win the MVP in both leagues; Frank Robinson, in 1961 with Cincinnati and 1966 in Baltimore, was the other. He’s the 12th three-time winner and the only one to win all three unanimously.
And he’s the third player to wear a Dodgers uniform and have three MVPs to his name. Albert Pujols, who was briefly a Dodger in 2021 and also a teammate of Ohtani in Anaheim, won his three with St. Louis. Roy Campanella won his in 1951, ’53 and ’55 in Brooklyn.
And, while it’s no sure thing and depends a lot on his recovery from a second major elbow surgery, the way is clear for Ohtani to win the MVP-Cy Young Award double. That’s been done 11 times previously, including Dodgers Don Newcombe in 1956 and Sandy Koufax in ’63 – when only one Cy Young Award was given for both leagues – and Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
“Hopefully in the upcoming season, I’ll continue to be able to perform to this high level,” he said.
How much farther can Ohtani push the boundaries, and how much more can we expect? There’s no way of knowing, but at least we know this: Whatever he does from here on, not only will all of Japan be paying attention but all of baseball, as well.
Under current conditions, that wasn’t going to happen in Anaheim.
jalexander@scng.com
