Ohtani wins third MVP award, first in NL; Judge earns second AL honor in 3 seasons

Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday.

Ohtani was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.

Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.

In Japan, the award triggered Japanese newspapers to print special editions, given out on Friday morning in central Tokyo. Japan is 14 hours ahead of New York and the east coast of the United States.

“Every year Ohtani has set records that probably no one else can break,” Yoshio Inoue, a student, said while getting his copy.

This comes less than a month after Ohtani and the Dodgers won the World Series, which also prompted the special editions that are fought over as collectors' items.

Several newspapers offered their own renditions, but every one highlighted “MVP” in large letters and an image of Ohtani in Dodgers blue. Ohtani grew up in rural northern Japan where is deeply revered.

“I was reading the newspaper thinking he's amazing,” said Yuko Shimamoto. "I'm very happy to have him representing Japan in MLB."

Called gogai in Japanese, the single-page editions are a tradition in Japan to mark special events, and are also used to drive newspaper sales. Newspaper readership is sagging in Japan, but stronger than in many other countries.

Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December.

Ohtani joined Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues. He was the first player to twice become an unanimous MVP. He had combined with Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023 for the first year both MVPs were unanimous.

Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

“The ultimate goal from the beginning was to win a World Series, which we are able to accomplish,” he said through a translator. “The next goal is for me to do it again and so right now I’m in the middle of rehab and working out and getting stronger.”

When Ohtani returns to the mound, could he win MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same year?

“That would obviously be great, but right now my focus is just to get to get back healthy, come back stronger, get back on the mound and show everybody what I can do,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani became the first primary DH to win an MVP in a season that started with the revelation his longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, had stolen nearly $17 million from the star to fund gambling.

Ohtani is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).

Balloting was conducted before the postseason.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 31 stolen bases and 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.

When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two.

Judge had discussed the MVP award with Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, the NL winner in 2015 and ’21.

“I was telling him, `Man, I’m going to try to catch up to you with these MVPs here, man,’” Judge recalled. “He’d say, hopefully, he could stay a couple ahead of me, which I think he’ll do.”

When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. He is the Yankees' 22nd MVP winner, four more than any other team.

Judge was hitting .207 with six homers and 18 RBIs through April, then batted .352 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 127 games.

“March and April were not my friend this year.” Judge said. “Just keep putting in the work and things are going to change. You can’t mope. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. Especially in New York, nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. So you just got to go out there and put up the numbers?”

Associated Press sports writer Stephen Wade in Tokyo contributed to this story.

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