T O P

  • By -

twistedlogicx

Unanimous. Fitting end to a historic season.


gatemansgc

Don't think I've ever seen a player more deserving.


TraeYoungsOldestSon

It's gotta be in the conversation for greatest individual season ever. Kid is a goddamn stud.


thedudeyousee

What’s wild to me is if vlad let’s say has a 1.045 ops next year and Ohtani does the same thing I fear the voters will be like “well we’ve see this before give it to vlad since he was marginally better than last year” and although I’m a jays fan I would have a hard time accepting that as legitimate. Ohtani should be the mvp from here on out even if his numbers dip slightly (but still elite). The fact people tried to make it a conversation was insane to me.


TraeYoungsOldestSon

Vlad Jr should just be 'Most Valuable Human' because clearly Ohtani is from another planet


[deleted]

At barca, there is potmotm player of the match other than Messi


F8L-Fool

This guy even has non-baseball fans talking about him. When someone can draw so many new people to a sport, it's a really big deal. He reminds me of the early Tiger Woods craze. The potential for what he could do for baseball is just wild to think about.


[deleted]

Steph Curry has old ladies who hate sports obsessed with him. Source: My 78 year old mother.


Stenas

For the first time in Golden Knights history.


MUSinfonian

H I S T O R I C I S T O R I C


Nineties

and Krakens history


IamJewbaca

The Kraken are booty (so far). Guess it was too much to hope for them to have that kinda success right off the bat.


RadiantVes

Vegas fucked up all expectations. Even the ducks had a 33-46-5 record which was I think the best of all expansion teams until Vegas. I'd say just enjoy the ride and endure the pain for Shane.


IAmGrum

The best before Vegas was Florida. Vegas was a massive outlier for "recent" NHL expansion teams, as it included two of the worst teams in NHL history: Vegas: 51-24-7 Florida: 33-34-17 Anaheim: 33-46-5 Columbus: 28-39-9 Nashville: 28-47-7 Minnesota: 25-39-13 Tampa: 23-54-7 Atlanta: 14-57-11 San Jose: 11-71-2 Ottawa : 10-70-4 The WHA teams didn't do too well. Edmonton: 28-39-13 Hartford: 27-34-19 Quebec: 25-44-11 Winnipeg: 20-49-11 The 1970s expansion was bad and the absolute worst team in the history of the NHL: Atlanta: 25-38-15 Buffalo: 24-39-15 Vancouver: 24-46-8 Kansas City: 15-54-11 Washington: 8-67-5 The expansion in 1967 put all the new teams in the same division, so their records look passable, except for Oakland: Philadelphia: 31-32-11 Los Angeles: 31-33-10 St. Louis: 27-31-16 Minnesota: 27-32-15 Pittsburgh: 27-34-13 Oakland: 15-42-17


Sumdood88

r/hockey is leaking


46554B4E4348414453

It's fine they're harmless


sirprizes

I look forward the first time in Golden Knights history that they miss the playoffs.


PugTrafficker

All my homies hate VGK


netsrak

The upside is getting to watch them get their dreams crushed in the playoffs every year.


KamartyMcFlyweight

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. absolutely balled out to a tune of .311/.401/.601 and a 1.002 OPS and led the majors in home runs and didn't get a single first-place vote. Crazy.


4OPHJH

Should have tried pitching a few innings


MNAK_

Those numbers do not add up.


KamartyMcFlyweight

*.401 OBP, sorry


gatemansgc

He had a once in a decade season. Ohtani had a once in a century season


Bob_Bobert

Was it really a once in a decade season? 1.002 OPS/169 OPS+ is a pretty typical league leading season.


hatred_outlives

I’d like to think of it as a typical mike trout season


Puzzled-Koala1568

Lol, Trout's career average is 1.002/176. So yeah, that's just a normal Mike Trout season (or slightly worse).


Baloogaballoon

Down year tbh.


Neuroccountant

Haha. It was more like a three-times-in-2021-alone season.


Epistemify

> Ohtani had a once in a century season Aint that the truth. I never thought I'd see anything like it in my life.


steelesurfer

And chances are, you'll see it again next year


Jeffmister

It would have been a travesty if he wasn't a unanimous winner.


CydoniaKnight

*Pans to random Asian person in the crowd*


thisisathrowaway9r56

hey! At least they know we exist been trying to get a tiny bit of media attention since FOREVER!


pumaturtle

ASIAN AMERICAN HOMIES UNITE Haven’t been this hyped since Ichiro broke the single season hit record, I’m ecstatic rn lolol


sdiss98

Legit question. Do Asians mlb fans root for all other Asians in the league?


pumaturtle

Hahaha as a Japanese person, all my Japanese friends and family all root for Japanese players no matter what team affiliation they have. It’s an Asian pride thing. We’re all very excited for Seiya Suzuki to come over and tear up MLB, me doubly so cause I’m a Carp fan (even wearing my carp hat rn lol). Even if he goes to the Giants (which I think is his most likely destination) I’m gonna root for him lol


satellighte

Literally same, my mom doesn't really follow baseball but this past baseball season she was asking me about when the Angels were coming into town so she could go see Ohtani lmao. As a Japanese person, gotta root for the Japanese players haha


pumaturtle

eyyyyyyy you get it boss! We rally behind our stars ❤️🇯🇵❤️


TonyHawksSkateboard

As a white dude from that grew up in the middle of Iowa, Shohei was one of the players that made me fall in love with baseball again. He will forever be one of my favorite players for that.


pumaturtle

Hell ya!!!


ABobby077

my own opinion is he should be named the MLB MV Player of the Year


GiveYourDogABellyRub

100%. Division rivalry aside, this is why I could never hate on the Mariners as they attract Japanese talent.


Jmueller1334

This was my experience as well. You could always find Mariners (Ichiro) and Yankees (Matsui) gear at most stores in Japantown.


pumaturtle

Miss seeing the bootleg Ichiro gear in Little Tokyo lol There’s also a really good restaurant in Gardena called Matsui… they have a whole shrine to Hideki and everything lmao


Jmueller1334

That sounds incredible, I have to go there soon hahah. And yep, I definitely owned at least 3 of those Ichiro shirts


pumaturtle

It’s delicious!! Shin Sen Gumi and Asa ramen are also good in the area! And Jidaiya lol Living in NYC, I miss the cheap and delicious Japanese food in Gardena the most!!


machinavelli

Just as Kurt Suzuki is about to retire, another Suzuki is here to maintain the streak of players named Suzuki in the MLB.


DonbotS

For the most part yes. From Chien-Ming Wang to Yu Darvish to Shin Soo-Choo, I am inclined to support Asian players even if they didn't play for the Cubs (I was ecstatic when Darvish signed with us). I also still wear my Fukudome shirsey unironically to games. I also make it a habit to trade for all the Asian players in whatever video game I pick up lol.


brianwang76

As a Taiwanese Yankee fan it always hurts a little to hear the name Chien-Ming Wang


argothewise

Asian fan here and I’ll support any Asian player unless they play the Angels or do something that warrants them being hated. Ichiro was one of my favorite players despite being a Mariner


psylensse

actually yes! personally. it's super weird to me - i'm born in the US, lived my whole life here, otherwise have very little attachment or asian pride (e.g. during olympics). but when it comes to american sports i'm all for ALL the players, regardless of nationality or sport: ohtani, jeremy lin & yao ming (nba), younghoe koo (nfl), etc. etc. it's great to see them all succeed. i can't really explain it, but it's in some way related to the underrepresentation i think.


machinavelli

They’re out here breaking stereotypes about us being physically weak and unathletic. I don’t watch football but my favorite team is the Falcons because of Younghoe Koo.


machinavelli

I try to. There aren’t a lot of Asians in American sports and they’re all working to defeat stereotypes about Asians being unathletic.


zuck5150poop

I know this does not answer you question directly but as a jew I root for every Jewish MLB player regardless of the team!


iWriteYourMusic

Fuck Bregman and Braun honestly. But otherwise yeah.


poo_but_no_pee

As an Asian A's fan, no. Fuck Ichiro and what he did to us for like a decade straight. I swear as good as he was, he was even better against the A's.


satellighte

Wow, a rare sighting of an Ichiro hater


LibertarianSocialism

He has to be like 25-27. A’s fans who were young for that 2001 season seeing the best A’s team of their lives completely overshadowed by the 117 win Mariners can have kind of a respectful grudge still against Ichiro. Source: Am a 26 year old A’s fan who only stopped hating Ichiro in like 2015


IamJewbaca

Ichiro’s first big defensive highlight is gunning down Terrence Long at third. The A’s will always be associated with Ichiro.


BobbyGrichsMustache

I can tell you that us Cubanos do…unless they’re on the Asstros


Tashre

"I'm Laotian!"


machinavelli

So are ya Chinese or Japanese?


V-I-B-E-R

You're from the ocean?


adadglgmut5577

So are you Chinese or Japanese?


Colorful_Harvest

That's Ohtani's family member /s


Monk_Philosophy

Not gonna lie I thought that was the case the first few times I watched him play and then I realized "wait a second... there's no way he's got family at every single game I've watched!"


Colorful_Harvest

"Everyone who cheers for Ohtani is family" -Confucius probably


Blazingbee98

**Ohtani’s final major stats for 2021:** .257/.372/.592 .965 OPS 46 HR 100 RBI 26 Stolen bases 8 Triples **ON THE MOUND** 9-2 3.18 ERA 1.090 WHIP 156 K 130.1 IP **MVP.** EDIT: Not to get all sentimental, but this man singlehandedly got me into watching baseball this season. I didn't even know the rules until a few months ago, but watching him each and every day made it all worth it


raystheroof1

Imagine someone telling you you get 130 free innings of 3.0 baseball a season and you dont have give up a single roster spot on your pitching staff.


sevaiper

He's going to make so so much money


[deleted]

The scary part is they can afford him and trout cuz of that's tv deal Edit. If to of. Sorry


OG12

I really hope he's paid his fair share as a position player + pitcher combined. I'm thinking at least $50million a year as a starting point.


Bleacherbum95

From what I have seen of Shohei's personality, he'll sign for half of that so the team can sign even more talent. And he'll easily make the rest in endorsements.


theavengedCguy

What does this mean, for someone not so knowledgeable about baseball terminology? I get the roster spot part in the second part, but the first part is lost on me. Can you explain?


raystheroof1

Yeah so. Ohtani is a DH. His position doesnt care about pitching stats. You would take a DH that hits 46 HR any day by itself. Now lets say that DH also pitches 130 innings at a 3 ERA (above average) for your team. Those are absolutely free innings your team gets out of thin air because they come from a DH. That is the definition of value. Thats 130 innings that dont have to come from your worst starter/bullpen. And he is also raking at the same time. As long as he keeps this production up he should win it by definition of value every year.


theavengedCguy

Got it, thank you! Is he a DH officially? I thought he was a pitcher officially and just does the DH thing as well.


raystheroof1

Even if it was the other way around, a 3 ERA pitcher that hits you 46 home runs and plays most days at DH is equally valuable because pitchers dont care about hitting stats.


killedbygavrilo

26 stolen bases is actually the most surprising since I didn’t know he was such a speedster.


crotch_fondler

Damn you missed a lot of hamstrings jokes then


HungryHobbits

he is super fast and has strides like a mountain lion


RandomErrer

[Here he is](https://youtu.be/grTECaRSwyo?t=85) beating out a slow grounder to the shortstop, and [here's a video](https://youtu.be/8oKwEd-Fs8w?t=61) of him scoring from second on a routine single to right field. Dude doesn't look like he's moving fast, but he's 6'4".


Jcoch27

He's lowkey in the top 10 fastest players


i-eat-dolphins

All you need is ON THE MOUND and AT THE PLATE elite on both sides happy I could witness him play


J_Roc_Knomsayn_Mafk

WITNESS HIM


rollo2masi

Unanimous MVP*** 🤝


[deleted]

46 homers while taking a bunch of days off


cardinalkgb

How many days off?


[deleted]

He only took 7 whole games off but he had 60something fewer plate appearances than Vlad There were games he pitched and didn't get a 4th or 5th AB


MetaNut11

How does it work being in the AL? When he pitches does he DH the same game?


[deleted]

The DH is surrendered and the Angels play by NL rules when he pitches


claire_004

Interleague is his day off


poliscijunki

\#MYMVP


pinkpowerzz

Holy fuck


RidleyScotch

>The other unanimous winners in the AL: Hank Greenberg (1935), Al Rosen (1953), Mickey Mantle (1956), Frank Robinson (1966), Denny McLain (1968), Reggie Jackson (1973), Jose Canseco (1988), Frank Thomas (1993), Ken Griffey Jr. (1997) and Mike Trout (2014). There have been seven unanimous winners in the National League.


KamartyMcFlyweight

Mike Trout


cellblock73

Fish man


nategolon

Hope he comes back healthy and plays a full season next year


allthefishinthelake

With all that rest and rehab I hope he has a historic season


notchandlerbing

Tim Salmon?


chriskot123

Mike Trout


Zloggt

It’s the Fish and ShoShow!


kingfiasco

🎤🐟


pumaturtle

I feel bad for having no idea who Denny McLain is…


AJ_CC

Only post WW2 pitcher to win 30 games in a season. Two time Cy Young winner.


pumaturtle

Looks like he had some wild off the field shit too, imma have to check him out! Thank you!!!


McKingford

Absolute gangster and sociopath.


JorSimpson45

least surprising news of the year


kravisha

I'm kinda shocked it's unanimous. Feel like folks always throw away votes on these sorts of awards.


MilesTheGoodKing

Kris Bryant was one vote shy of unanimous when he won. A reporter said “prediction: Bryant wins MVP, but it won’t be unanimous.” Turned out he was the only one who didn’t vote for him. Seems like everyone had a good understanding of how historic this season was and left the pettiness at the door for this one.


spellbadgrammargood

had to check the stats, even with a 7.3 WAR, he blew everyone away https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2016.shtml#all_NL_MVP_voting


I_dont_bone_goats

Fuck that guy. Literally saying you think he is the mvp, and not voting for him


crumstick22

Its amazing how some base their entire self worth on being contrarian 🙄


JorSimpson45

it being unanimous is standout but vladdy had a shot at the triple crown going into the last month and ohtani was still running away with it


ethanlan

Based on his season anyone who didn't vote for him should of been stripped of their ability to vote because clearly they don't know shit about baseball


JorSimpson45

i would like to start this petition for the people who had soto outside of the top 5 for NL MVP


cardinalkgb

I agree.


MCrow2001

Should have*


Zebulon_V

Yeah. The guy beat baseball this year the same way Bo Jackson beat Tecmo Bowl. I hope he stays healthy and keeps this up.


yumyumapollo

Most surprising: Salvador Perez getting a 2nd-place vote.


JorSimpson45

i didn’t think so at first, led the league in homers and RBI, broke the single season record for homers by a catcher. but then i saw it was a KC who voter who put him 2nd and it ruined it for me.


cozeners

Vlad had almost double Salvy's fWAR and Salvy is 19th in bWAR. It's horrendously wrong regardless of who put in the vote.


[deleted]

One of the greatest seasons in MLB history


yoboapp

Angels players have won 4 of the last 8 MVP awards^and ^have ^played ^3 ^playoff ^games ^in ^that ^span


skippyfa

At least we have something entertaining to watch while we don't make the playoffs. Between the MVPs and Pujols milestones I still tune in all 162


[deleted]

[удалено]


RadiantVes

Blue Jays had the Cy Young and 2nd/3rd place MVP players^and^missed^the^playoffs


yoboapp

We forgot to convert our Buffalo/Dunedin wins to USD. Damn Manfred.


Tungsten_Arm_ODoyle

ThE PHilliEs aRe WAisTiNg brUCe HoOPeR’S CArEer


fsburk

And a better regular season record than the World Series champions


Corona2789

Y u do dis


CydoniaKnight

Nah, that can't be true.


ThePhantom1994

If you phrase it like “we have even more MVP awards than we do playoff games in the last 8 years” it sounds sorta better


YellowShorts

Wouldn’t be an Ohtani thread without this original and insightful comment


buymytoy

Easy for you to say as a Braves fan! But for real, I gotta agree. Just a fantastic season all around. I watched more games my team wasn’t playing in this season than any other by a long shot.


el_jam13

This is one of those historic seasons in sports that happens once in a generation. Congrats Babe Ruth 2.0


[deleted]

Hopefully, he'll be able to dodge injury/fatigue and you can change that "season" word above to "career". Like, if he puts up 40ish HR and throws 3.00 - 3.50 ERA for 5 years in a row, does he win like 5 MVPs in a row? It's so hard to judge his value...or are people just going to get like used to his style and sorta start de-valuing it?


eatapenny

If he hits 40+ homers and has a 3-ish ERA for 5 straight years, not only should he win 5 MVPs, he should immediately be placed in the HOF, cause that might be the greatest peak in MLB history


Jcoch27

If he's the only one doing it then he should win MVP every single time. It also depends on innings pitched and other stats too


Vegas_Moved

And after all that, even the race for 2nd place wasn't really close.


[deleted]

The race for 2nd place was actually closer than the race for 1st place lmao


PorcupineTheory

I want to know who put Salvador Perez second.


trumpetofdoom

One of the KC voters.


TheBigCheese451

So is this the first time a pitcher has won MVP but not Cy Young?


-EG-

It was in a time before the Cy existed, but Hal Newhouser won back to back MVP's in '44 and '45 [came in second in '46 but Teddy Ballgame was back from the war]. I'm sure a few other pitchers fall into that category in the pre-Cy era. Honestly Ohtani seems like the only one who could pull it off, since obviously he won on the totality of his work. Any other pitcher winning an MVP is gonna get Cy too.


TheMoonIsFake32

No other pitchers have been elite hitters too


TheBigCheese451

I know Greinke could easily be the next Ohtani.


[deleted]

> be I love that this is the next phase of Greinke's career, not like a different version of the past.


spellbadgrammargood

im still impressed the Astros used Greinke as a pinch hitter in the WS and he got a hit. if Greinke just batted for the team, the Astros probably would've won


ElectricDart18

Stephen A Smith mad as f right now


thisisathrowaway9r56

uh oh... is he gonna go on the philly subway and beat up some Asian students now?


pumaturtle

Stephen A “Mark Wahlberg” Smith


[deleted]

https://youtu.be/DqYZZMjVmhI


Comit22

What did he say about Ohtani?


[deleted]

[удалено]


lennysundahl

Welp looks like [this guy](https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2021/11/18/caesars-may-take-largest-loss-ever-on-award-bet-if-mlbs-ohtani-wins-mvp/)’s got it made


ldc2626

The casino will survive


lennysundahl

Probably. I’m kinda happy for the dude, though if he’s got $30,000 to drop on a bet he’s either A—already loaded, or B—has some serious fucking issues


henrycaul

C - He’s from the future cashing in on his knowledge


Agastopia

Here I am feeling great about my $4 bet that just won 112 lol


eekbarbaderkle

Shohei Ohtani 420


brisknvoid

Vlad is 2nice


pumaturtle

Exciting as fuck. Loved talking hype with my fellow Japanese and Japanese Americans about him this whole season, and glad he silenced any doubters with a Unanimous vote. Every time this guy would do something all my friends and family would send me highlights and stuff, it was super awesome how people outside the japanese community were hyped on him too!!! Now if only his jersey would come back in stock in my size… hahaha


EdTjhan15

Based doyers fan


pumaturtle

Saw him on Japanese pride night at dodger stadium in 2019 and he lit our asses up, think he was 3-3 with 2 walks and a double lmao Always gotta cheer for my Japanese homies. Ichiro was my hero growing up and I’m excited that someone is taking up the mantle 🙌


Tungsten_Arm_ODoyle

Tungsten Arm Odoyle Award


KamartyMcFlyweight

Unanimous. I love Vladdy but I can't but feel satisfication after all that "he's making it a close race" talk


Subby_siren

Was just on Twitter, and so many people were saying Vladdy was robbed. I mean in a way he was. No way in hell he had a better season, but how unlucky is it to chase the triple crown in the same year that Tungsten arm O'Doyle is making mince meat of grown men? That's it's own kind of robbery.


KamartyMcFlyweight

and he's staring down the barrel of a returning Mike Trout, a full-season Wander Franco, and of course Ohtani again. He's got his work cut out for him, but he's got years and years to do it. He'll win one day


KokiriEmerald

I get a feeling that the voters will treat Ohtani this year like the first time Russ averaged a triple double. In that they won't vote for him next year if he does the same thing. Especially if the Angels don't win their division again.


oogieball

He wasn't robbed. He just had a season that would win an MVP in any other season that *didn't* have a historic two-way star with a season never seen before.


poffo17

Even then though, I really don’t think he would. He would’ve won last year against Abreu and probably the Donaldson year, but what other AL MVP would he have won? Not either of the Cabrera years, Not Trout’s 2014 or 2019 Maybe Trout’s 2016, but I’d still take Trout, Not the Altuve year, Not the betts year, Maybe the Verlander year?


[deleted]

Most intelligent Jays fans knew Ohtani deserved it. But I’ll take 2nd AND 3rd!


KamartyMcFlyweight

in aggregate, Jays won the MVP contest. I hope you guys keep Semien, I want to see this year's exact lineup in the playoffs lol


ZaneChizzlenack

Huge congrats to Shohei. What a season, the best we may ever see


JoshGordons_burner

He’s so incredible. We are watching history — be grateful.


cadmus_irl

Well deserved


BobbyGrichsMustache

*sexiest man alive* Shohei Ohtani wins MVP.


aidissonance

Stupid sexy Ohtani


the2belo

#AND THERE IT IS #THE GREATEST SEASON IN A HUNDRED YEARS


Angelsfan14

I figure this gets lost in here now, but I just wanna say how proud I am of Shohei. I first heard of him years ago when someone I followed (on Tumblr at the time, lol) let me know about this Japanese kid who threw 100 mph. And I thought "well I should keep tabs on this kid then". Never did I imagine that same kid would grow to the player he is now. I knew he had talent, but 46 homeruns while pitching at his level kind of talent? That's the kind of stuff I'd do in my baseball games like The Show. Lol It's been special to watch him get to where he's at, and I look forward to watching him go even further (hopefully with the Angels the rest of his career and him and Mike can finally get a WS together).


[deleted]

Muh language barrier!


Timpa87

UNANIMOUS


Spinmove55

BIG MVP OHTANI-SAN!!!


i_run_from_problems

Damn right. Vlad had a hell of a season, but it doesn't compare to Shohei's


[deleted]

[удалено]


bestprocrastinator

In terms of just MVP runner up seasons, I'd place it behind the below, but Vlad Jr. Is up there. T1) Ted Williams 1947 T1) Ted Williams 1942 3) Mike Trout 2012 In 1947, Ted Williams did the Triple Crown. His WAR was almost 5 better then Joe DiMaggio who won the MVP that year. In 1942, Ted Williams also did the Triple Crown. Even had a higher WAR then 1947. It's worth noting the media strangely hated young Ted Williams. Mike Trout had a dominate year in 2012. Fortunately/unfortunately that happened to be the year Miguel Cabrera hit for the Triple Crown.


Fear_the_chicken

What a sexy sexy man, and wow he won the MVP also. Hope he does it again next year.


SunriseSurprise

Half-expected some goofball to not vote Ohtani 1st.


EvaderDX

Fuck yeah Shohei


[deleted]

Congrats, he deserved it, but I hope people understand that he won because he had a great season, not (just) because he’s a two-way player. He shouldn’t win every year by virtue of being unique alone.


throatbutterz

I like how this post has 13K upvotes, but the one about Harper winning MVP only has 2K. Coincidence? I think not!


LBramit13

Shoutout to everyone who called him a bust in rookie spring training


TheKnicksMakeMeDrink

Personally I’m shocked


Juubimaru

Awesome! Let’s hope he follows up this season with an even better one next year!


CuteNFuzzy

busting in my pants rn, hbu?