FILE PHOTO: Japanese two-way baseball player for the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani, attends a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Japan November 15, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato
November 19, 2021
(Reuters) -Double threat Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was named Most Valuable Player of Major League Baseball’s American League on Thursday, making him only the second Japanese player to win the award.
Ohtani, often compared to MLB great Babe Ruth because of his ability to pitch and hit at an elite level, was the unanimous pick over Toronto Blue Jays players Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
“MVP is something I was shooting for, obviously, I think any player is as long as they’re playing baseball professionally,” said Ohtani via a translator. “But I was more appreciative of the fact that American fans – just the USA baseball – was more accepting and welcoming (of) the whole two-way idea compared to when I first started in Japan.
“It made the transition a lot easier for me, so very thankful for that.”
Ohtani, in his first full MLB season as both a hitter and pitcher, had a .257 batting average, 46 home runs and 100 RBI to go along with a 9-2 record and 3.18 earned-run average in 23 starts on the mound.
The 27-year-old Ohtani is the first Japanese player to win the award since Ichiro Suzuki earned the honors in 2001 as a member of the Seattle Mariners.
Philadelphia Phillies Bryce Harper took National League MVP honours picking up the award for the second time. Harper claimed MVP honours in 2015 with the Washington Nationals.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue and Steve Keating in Toronto, Amy Tennery in New York. Editing by Ed Osmond & Shri Navaratnam)
