{"id":10178,"date":"2024-11-22T07:53:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T07:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=10178"},"modified":"2024-11-22T07:53:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T07:53:21","slug":"alexander-no-suspense-as-dodgers-shohei-ohtani-sweeps-nl-mvp-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=10178","title":{"rendered":"Alexander: No suspense as Dodgers\u2019 Shohei Ohtani sweeps NL MVP vote"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After one of baseball\u2019s best individual seasons ever, he deserved the unanimous vote he received. How much farther can he push the boundaries of what is possible?\"With<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Was there really any doubt?<\/p>\n

Certainly, the advertisers on Thursday\u2019s MLB Network announcement of the Most Valuable Player awards didn\u2019t think so. Ads featuring Shohei Ohtani were lined up to go right after the announcement of the National League MVP award. I\u2019m sure there were fallback ads, but why would anyone think they were needed?<\/p>\n

When Clayton Kershaw appeared on screen to announce the NL winner \u2013 after Derek Jeter had appeared to announce the Yankees\u2019 Aaron Judge as the American League MVP \u2013 well, that was a further tipoff.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 one in each league \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cValuable\u201d part of \u201cMost Valuable Player,\u201d as in what a player did to help his team succeed including, and sometimes beyond, mere numbers.<\/p>\n

With the Angels, who have become a downtrodden franchise, it became increasingly hard for that value to show.<\/p>\n

With the Dodgers, who are accustomed to shooting for championships \u2013 and who won their second World Series in five seasons, and first full-season World Series since 1988 \u2013 Ohtani was not only a key factor but might have been the missing link for a team that kept falling short in October.<\/p>\n

This award is a regular-season award, of course, and the votes are due before the postseason begins, but Ohtani\u2019s impact on this team and this clubhouse and this environment was evident well before October.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cbecause we were able to win the World Series. And so, you know, it\u2019ll be a special moment that I\u2019ll never forget, and just to be able to win the MVP as an individual as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he said this, through interpreter Matt Hidaka: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could say that as an Angel and hardly anyone could believe him. As a Dodger, at least it\u2019s in the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 what turned out to be an embezzlement scandal, and a betrayal of Ohtani\u2019s trust. Under those circumstances and that media frenzy, Ohtani learned that the other guys in that clubhouse had his back, unequivocally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that was on the script of how we started off this year,\u201d first baseman Freddie Freeman said after Game 5 of the World Series, the clincher. \u201cBut 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\u2019s) pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And when Betts came back, Ohtani stayed in the leadoff spot. He didn\u2019t change his approach but talked of being more aggressive on the bases, and that had been part of his plan anyway since he wasn\u2019t going to be pitching in 2024.<\/p>\n

Consider, too: He\u2019s the second player to win the MVP in both leagues; Frank Robinson, in 1961 with Cincinnati and 1966 in Baltimore, was the other. He\u2019s the 12th three-time winner and the only one to win all three unanimously.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s 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, \u201953 and \u201955 in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

And, while it\u2019s 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\u2019s been done 11 times previously, including Dodgers Don Newcombe in 1956 and Sandy Koufax in \u201963 \u2013 when only one Cy Young Award was given for both leagues \u2013 and Clayton Kershaw in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully in the upcoming season, I\u2019ll continue to be able to perform to this high level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

How much farther can Ohtani push the boundaries, and how much more can we expect? There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Under current conditions, that wasn\u2019t going to happen in Anaheim.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After one of baseball\u2019s best individual seasons ever, he deserved the unanimous vote he received. 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