Superstar sluggers Judge, Ohtani take home unanimous MVP honours
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Sluggers Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani both took home unanimous MVP honours, marking the second time in MLB history players from both leagues won unanimously in the same year.
Judge earned his second MVP award for the New York Yankees, while the Los Angeles Dodgers' Ohtani took home the third MVP award in his career - all of which were won unanimously.
The only other time both players won the MVP award unanimously was in 2023, when Ohtani won in the American League for the Los Angeles Angels and Ronald Acuna won for the Atlanta Braves in the National League.
Judge mashes to his second MVP award
Judge capped off another dominant season with his second MVP award - and first unanimous selection - in his career.
The centre fielder finished first in the majors in a number of categories, including home runs (58), runs batted in (144), on-base percentage (.458), walks taken (133) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.159).
He finished third in the American League in batting average (.322) behind Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals (.332) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays (.323).
Judge earned his first MVP award in 2022, when he set the AL record for home runs in a season with 62. Outside of his home run total, this season was better in almost every way.
His OPS is the highest mark in the AL since Mark McGwire held an OPS of 1.198 for the Oakland Athletics in 1996.
Even more impressively, the towering centre fielder, who stands at 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, turned his season around from a dreadful start that had fans at Yankee Stadium showering him with boos midway through April.
Judge's batting average dropped to .179 on April 20, in the team's 21st game of the season, when he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I’ve heard worse, and I’d probably be doing the same in their situation,” Judge said of the fans showing their disdain during that 2-0 defeat.
Judge turned it on not long after, and from that forgettable game on, he slashed .345/.479/1.236 the rest of the way to finish an unforgettable campaign.
The Linden, Calif. native joins Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) and Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers, won both his awards with the Angels) as the only active players to have won multiple AL MVP awards.
Witt Jr. and Judge's teammate in New York, Juan Soto, finished second and third in MVP voting.
Ohtani scorches on the base paths, bashes with the bat to secure third MVP award
Ohtani finished another impressive campaign with his third career MVP award.
This is his first time winning the award in the National League, after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Angels and earning MVP awards in 2021 and 2023.
Ohtani had a season for the ages in his debut with the Dodgers, finishing with a league-leading 54 home runs, 134 runs scored, 130 runs batted in and an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of 1.036.
Ohtani also achieved the first 50-50 season in MLB history, as he added 59 stolen bases. His total bases (411) and runs scored were the best in the majors this season.
The superstar from Oshu, Japan becomes the first designated hitter to take home the MVP award in MLB history.
Ohtani also becomes only the second player in MLB history to earn MVP honours in both leagues, joining Frank Robinson, who took home the award in 1961 with the Cincinnati Reds and again in 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles.
To top it all off, Ohtani was a key driving force behind the Dodgers winning their eighth World Series in October, beating the New York Yankees four games to one.
Ohtani was restricted to the DH role this season after successfully undergoing Tommy John surgery in September of 2023. The two-way star is expected to return to pitching in 2025, where the sky is the limit for what he can accomplish.