They weren’t just the two best seasons of their time but two of the absolute best seasons of all-time. Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge left absolutely no doubt as to how the Baseball Writers’ Association of America MVP honors would turn out, so all that was left Thursday night on MLB Network was to make it official. And unanimous.
Ohtani, the two-way wonder who was relegated by elbow surgery to designated hitter duties in his first season with the World Series champion Dodgers, claimed his third MVP and his first in the NL with a 50-homer, 50-steal season that was truly one of a kind. He joined Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP in both leagues.
“I’m just representing the Dodgers,” Ohtani said through interpreter Matt Hidaka. “It was a complete team effort. I wouldn’t have been able to receive this award if it weren’t for my teammates. If we didn’t play as a team, we would not have gotten to the playoffs or won the World Series. So I take this as representing a team, receiving this award.”
And Judge, the mammoth Yankee captain, fell just shy of his AL single-season home run record but nevertheless had one of the greatest offensive performances ever by a right-handed hitter, en route to his second AL MVP in the last three years.
“I was talking to [two-time MVP Bryce] Harper a lot this season and telling him, ‘Man, I’m going to try to catch up to you in these MVPs here,’” Judge joked. “It means a lot [to win another]. Just a lot of hard work in the offseason, during the season, the ups and downs throughout it. Just the constant support from my teammates, the fans in New York, just everybody to help me get to this spot.”
Both players received first-place votes on all 30 ballots submitted in their respective leagues, marking the second straight year both MVPs were unanimous after it had never happened prior to 2023.