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Shohei Ohtani. | Photo courtesy of Moto "Club4AG" Miwa/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
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Angels pitcher/slugger Shohei Ohtani was unanimously voted American League MVP Thursday, becoming only the second Japanese-born player to win the honor.
Ohtani is the 11th player to receive a unanimous American League MVP vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Previous unanimous selections include Reggie Jackson, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Trout.
The honor marks the sixth time the award has gone to an Angel player. Don Baylor won the award in 1979, Vladimir Guerrero in 2004 and Trout in 2014, 2016 and 2019.
Trout congratulated Ohtani with a video posted on Twitter.
“What an unbelievable season you had,” Trout said. “It was like watching Little League all over again — pitching, hitting, moving to the outfield late in games. What an incredible season to watch. I’m just happy for you. Enjoy the night, enjoy everything, enjoy everything that comes along with it.”
The only other Japan-born player to receive the award was Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
