Shohei Ohtani Wins Fourth MVP Award; 4x Unanimous Vote Winner

As amazing as Shohei Ohtani has been with the Dodgers in his first two seasons, it begs the question why he didn't reach these heights with the Angels' organization. I still can't figure that one out.

But let's not lose the opportunity to celebrate Ohtani's fourth career MVP award:

Ohtani has won four MVPs over the past five years, all of them in unanimous fashion. Only Barry Bonds has more with seven.

"It's definitely special," Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said on a conference call. "It makes it special because it was unanimous, and I would like to thank all the writers for voting for me."

Ohtani, 31, had already joined Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP in both leagues and the only player among the four major American professional sports with more than one unanimous MVP. Now he is the first player in MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL history to win both an MVP and a championship in each of his first two seasons with a team, according to ESPN Research.

In true Ohtani fashion, he prioritized this year's World Series team victory over his own individual accomplishment:

“The biggest thing,” Ohtani said through an interpreter of this 2025 win, “is obviously being able to win the World Series. That's first and foremost. You know, it's icing on the cake to be able to get an individual award, being crowned MVP, but I just really appreciate the support from all my teammates, everybody around me, my supporting staff.”

The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya also has a nice piece, which ends with this:

In Game 3 of the World Series against the Blue Jays, Ohtani showed the world something else they’d never seen. He’d pounded Toronto through his first four at-bats, slugging a pair of doubles and two home runs to will the Dodgers to a 5-5 tie. Toronto manager John Schneider saw enough and put him on with intentional walks each of the next four times he went to the plate in an eventual 18-inning marathon. When Ohtani came up a ninth time on the night, he was walked on four pitches. It marked the first time in any game since 1942 that a batter had reached safely nine times, and no one had ever reached more than six times in a World Series game.

“We’re still running out of words to describe a once-in-a-ten-generational player,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said.

Now, Ohtani has even more hardware.

Congratulations, Shohei Ohtani!